The Woman Out Of Time: The 21st Century
by 100-percent-not-a-Muggle
Summary: A new century, a new identity and a new job was enough for Lowri Jones to finally settle in her life. At the head of an impressive intelligence organisation, Lowri must deal with things that are deemed impossible while struggling to manage her busy work life and her busy personal life. Follow her on her story through the years. *Please read The Woman Out Of Time beforehand*
1. Chapter 1

**Welcome to the next instalment of my series!**

 **Just to let you all know, my character has had to change her identity several times over the years before she settled on this identity, now she can reveal to the world who she is. If you have any questions, just let me know and I'll answer for you!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own any Marvel characters that may be used or any Marvel storylines or arcs.**

 **Claimer: I only own the character Elizabeth Jones (Lowri Jones and any other names she uses) and her story past, present and future.**

* * *

Lowri Evelyn Jones stood in Central Park in New York, she was looking at the memorial built in the late 1940's dedicated to the war hero, Captain Steven Grant Rogers and his fellow Howling Commando, Sergeant James Buchanan Barnes.

But Lowri knew more than that. Just seventy years ago, she had known Captain Rogers as simply Steve Rogers, a small man frequently ill yet determined to help his country during the war.

She had been there for it all.

Lowri is the woman who doesn't age, the woman who can control fire, the woman who co-founded one of the government's biggest intelligence agency and the woman who captured the heart of Captain America before he got given his stars and stripes.

She brushed the tears that welled up in her eyes away before looking back down at the memorial. Her eyes caught onto the base of the memorial and a smile came onto her face as she allowed herself to remember pouring the final vial of Steve Rogers' blood in the foundations.

This is something Lowri does every two months. She takes two days off work and heads to over New York, she drops her things off at her cheap flat and spends majority of the day at the memorial site, remembering.

It's a break from work, which is always testing.

Right now, S. H. I. E. L. D. is working on various projects but one of the biggest projects that takes up most of the agents in the agency was Project Stripe.

The director of S. H. I. E. L. D. gave an order a few months back for the case of the missing Hydra plane, the _Valkyrie_ to be reopened and for the search to continue but so far nothing has come out from it.

This director made the choice without Lowri's say on it. Most projects require her approval before they go head, but this one was too close to her to have a fair judgement.

She's very much against the idea of the _Valkyrie_ being found, Howard Stark tried many years ago, he was out for months searching for the plane, but nothing was ever found. It was assumed that the plane had went down into the Arctic Circle, but the landscape is always changing, making it almost impossible to find it.

S. H. I. E. L. D. is the organisation that she co-founded, originally, it was her, Peggy Carter, Howard Stark and Chester Phillips. The Strategic Homeland Intervention Enforcement and Logistics Division is her baby.

So many of the old protocols from the SSR are still being used, some are completely new, such as the Level Clearance System. As per se, being one of the founders, Lowri has top clearance on everything that happens in S. H. I. E. L. D. and she has the choice to claim Directorship of the organisation, but after a few stints in the 70's and another in the 90's, she's quite happy to step to the side and let another take the reins. She's still treated as the big boss, despite what she says.

Lowri prefers being on missions with agents, it lets her bond with the agents under her command and it gives her a break from all the office agents nagging her for her authorisation on something.

She likes to think that she works well with S. H. I. E. L. D.'s current director, Nick Fury, and she's glad of it. She's had to work with so many people that she hadn't gotten along with. One old director once tried to push her out of the organisation all together.

Nick Fury does push her on certain things and in some situations, despite that, they still work well together.

She looked back at the memorial and tears ran freely down her cheeks. The memorial is a simple slab of white stone balanced on the ground with a gold inscription reading: _In memory of the Howling Commandos that gave their lives for their country in the Second World War. Captain Steven Grant Rogers and Sergeant James Buchanan Barnes of the 107_ _th_ _, Howling Commandos._

 _Forever in our hearts and minds, let them guide us._

It hardly ever gets vandalised and whenever she comes to visit, she's always relieved to see it still in one piece. She breathed out heavily before pushing on her knees, standing up and stepping back with her eyes locked on the memorial.

"I miss you." She breathed quietly. She was standing in the path slightly and the New Yorkers brushed past her, some of them sending glares at her as she blocked their path.

Though Lowri has lived through the times and watched people evolve, she's still unable to understand how some people have become so hostile to everyone. What happened to standing with your countrymen?

Sometimes she gets the feeling that she's been left behind in the world. Maybe that's her own fault, she doesn't like change and she refuses to move with the world's ways.

Lowri stepped out of their way with an apologetic look on her face, but she kept the memorial in her eyesight. As Lowri stepped back, her cell phone buzzed in her back pocket and she had the strong urge to ignore the call.

It was most definitely someone from S. H. I. E. L. D. calling her. She doesn't give out her number to anyone nowadays. The agents already know not to call her during her two-day leave, unless it's an emergency.

With a disappointed sigh, Lowri pulled the phone from her back pocket and pressed to her ear, already knowing that she was going to be summoned off her two-day leave.

"Hello?" She asked with a sigh.

"Agent Jones," The voice belongs to a fellow agent, not quite a rookie but he's good at what he does, Agent Phil Coulson. "I know you're in New York and I know you don't like to be interrupted but I've got fantastic news for you, but I can't tell you over the phone. But I can tell you when you get to DC later, so I'm sending over a ticket now for a plane leaving JFK in two hours. Pack up your stuff and get back. Fury's orders."

"You know, we've known each other for a long time, Phil. My given name really isn't that hard to say." Lowri pointed out with a smile on her face, on the other end she heard Phil sigh.

"You never make it easy, do you? Just check your emails when we hang up and make sure you're on that plane. I've booked you in for first class so don't say I never do things for you." Phil said.

"First class for your boss' boss? Wow, thanks, Phil." Lowri said jokingly. "Why can't you send over the jet?"

"Because every flier we've got is terrified of you making a comment about their flying abilities." Phil replied.

Lowri let out a laugh. "Fair enough. Alright, I'll be on the flight." She confirmed.

"Good." Phil hung up and Lowri slid her phone away, she looked back up at the memorial, sad that her day in the park had been cut short but this fantastic news must be important for them to call her off leave.

She had one last look at the memorial before stepping off and joining the crowds of people surging through the paths of the park. She left the park after quickly navigating her way through the crowds and headed for her flat.

It was only a short distance from the park and it's one of those cheap ones, the ones with mould in the bathroom and the cooker doesn't work. Lowri doesn't really care about that since she's only there for one night every two months, plus, she has a great immune system, so she doesn't get sick from the mould and she can always eat out.

Once inside the building, she skipped past the stairs and went straight for the elevator, her flat is on one of the top floors and she doesn't feel like walking those flights.

Inside the elevator stood a small family, an elderly woman and a young man in his early twenties, who checked Lowri out as soon as she stepped into the elevator.

Three floors up, the small family got out and halfway up, the elderly woman left the elevator, leaving Lowri and this young man intent on keeping his eyes on her in the elevator.

As soon as the elevator doors closed on them again and they began moving up, the young man practically slid over to her and looked into her eyes with a flirtatious look in his own.

"You going up or down, darling?" He asked, his voice was rather deep, and his accent had that familiar New York twang. Lowri wanted to chuckle at his choice of words. The elevator was clearly going up.

"Up." Lowri replied shortly. She didn't want to egg on his advances, it would only end up being bad for him. Of course, she was going to shoot him down if he tried to make a move.

"I'm new here, moved in last month, why haven't I see you before? I mean, I wouldn't forget a face as beautiful as yours." He said smoothly.

Lowri smiled gently at him, not enough to egg him on but enough to show him that she's a friendly person.

"I'm not here often, only once every few months. I'm just visiting a few of my old friends." Lowri explained, she was relieved when the elevator stopped at her floor and she stepped out quickly, and she ignored the man's call asking for her phone number.

She pulled her phone out as soon as her front door was closed and headed for the printer. Lowri checked her emails and sure enough, there was an email from Phil's account and attached was a single plane ticket for first class from New York. She sent it to the printer and headed into the kitchen.

She grabbed a bottle of lemonade and twisted the cap off, she added a triple shot of the strongest spirit she owns and headed out to the little balcony, moving her bottle in a small circle to mix the contents.

It could be her favourite place in the world. It's a close second, actually. She keeps an old arm chair out on the balcony in the summer months and when she's been in New York, she likes to sit on the balcony with a bottle of whisky or bourbon beside her, drinking well into the night, watching the city move beneath her.

She heaved out a sigh as she lowered herself into the armchair and sipped at her drink, wondering what this fantastic news could be. Maybe it was important enough to call her off leave, but not important enough to need her attention straight away?

She probably doesn't have a big decision to make if that's the case. The situation was nagging at the back of her mind.

Lowri took a long drink of her drink as soon as she heard the printer ding, signalling that it was done, she got to her feet, pulled the armchair inside and locked the balcony doors.

She quickly finished off the bottle and put it in the recycling before sliding the plane ticket into her already packed bag.

Lowri locked up her flat and took the stairs this time, she didn't want another meeting like the one she had in the elevator and as soon as she was outside, she hailed a taxi.

Booking in was easy, the only bag she had with her was her backpack which is her carry-on luggage. Lowri headed into the first-class lounge with an hour to spare and had a nose in a few of the magazines to kill some time.

No matter how nice first class is, it's always boring. But, it has some perks. The First-Class lounge is generally quieter and reserved so Lowri had the chance to start on some of her paperwork for her many projects in peace and be left undisturbed.

By the time they called for the first boarders for her flight, Lowri was more than ready and she happily stood up and headed for the plane along with the others in first class, passengers with young children and passengers with disabilities and the carers.

She went through a separate doorway leading to the plane and as she passed through the doorway, she was handed a complimentary glass of champagne, Lowri took it and thanked the air hostess but as soon as she sat down, she put it on the table and pushed it from her.

Lowri's tolerance to alcohol was very high and the champagne wouldn't even touch the sides, but she doesn't like the taste of it.

She peered around the cabin and was happy to see that the cockpit door was still open, and she could see the pilots completing their pre-flight checks. Her love for aircraft is one that this hasn't changed, and it certainly never will. Flying is always intriguing to her.

The plane took off smoothly after the regular introductions by the air hostesses and the pilots, as the plane drew level and electoral equipment was allowed, she was handed another glass but this time it was a white wine and the glass of untouched champagne was taken away.

Lowri pulled out her S. H. I. E. L. D. tablet and tapped away quickly. She likes first class for its spacious seating and the privacy it offers. She can work on her reports in peace and quiet.

She was halfway through her third report when the pilots announced they were beginning the descent into the airport, she slid her tablet away and sat back in her seat to look out the window.

As the plane touched down, she felt a strange feeling wash over her, as if something big was going to be happening in the next few hours.

Lowri bypassed the luggage collection and made a beeline for the arrivals lounge. She knew what to look for, black suit, white shirt, black tie, no sign and a small S. H. I. E. L. D. badge on the lapel.

She immediately spotted one of the agents standing at the back of the hall with his hands clasped in front of him. She didn't see the lapel badge until she was quite near, but she smiled at him and he led the way out to the car.

He was tall, a lot taller than her and he wore dark sunglasses, despite being inside. He never cracked a smile or spoke to her. Guess he's a silent one.

She followed him to the car, a large SUV all in black and he opened the door for her. He closed the door after her and got in the front.

He never talked once, instead he chose to drive in silence to the headquarters.

The car pulled up out front and Lowri quickly jumped from the car, calling out a thanks to her silent driver and tugged her bag over her shoulder as she headed for the front doors. She waved her security card over the scanner and it beeped, allowing her to push on the door and go through.

"Glad to see you're back off leave so soon." A red-headed agent fell into step beside Lowri and smirked. "They're not going to like the skirt."

"What, a one-hundred-and-ninety-four-year-old can't rock a skirt?" Lowri asked, smiling down at herself. She wore a light grey skirt that showed a lot of leg and a plain white vest and brown sandals, pretty much a summer look, oh and the soft leather brown jacket slung around her shoulders.

"When you're surrounded by girls younger than you by a century, they tend to get jealous." The red-head smirked.

"Then they're petty." Lowri said simply, "I see no objection to me wearing a skirt. Besides, Phil didn't give me much time to worry about what to wear to the office, Nat."

Natasha Romanoff, a turncoat from the KGB. She was recruited by Agent Clint Barton, a friend of Lowri's and now, Nat is also a friend of Lowri's too. Nat and Clint have this great friendship, bordering on a sibling relationship.

"Still, I bet Coulson is gonna say something." Nat said.

"Bet ya a cup of tea." Lowri grinned, she headed into the elevator and turned to face Nat. "Top Office."

"British." Nat said shaking her head, she turned from the elevator and headed off somewhere while Lowri travelled up to her office to dump her bag.

Lowri then left her office and headed down to Phil's level and walked up to his desk. He was working almost feverishly on a stack of papers; his head was bent low and obviously, he didn't hear her approach. She taped with her index finger once on his desk and he looked up sharply, a look of surprise came onto his face

"Thanks for the first-class ticket, buddy." She said moving around his table and perched on the end, smiling down at him. "But the driver was kinda silent, who is he?" She asked.

"Daniels." Phil replied, he stood hastily and grabbed the papers in his arms, "He's always silent, it's fine. And no worries." Phil looked down at her, "You couldn't have put anything else on that was appropriate?"

"Damn. I owe Romanoff a cup of tea." Lowri said, Phil looked at her strangely and she let out a laugh as he headed off in the direction of the elevator.

"Do I want to know?" Phil asked as he walked away from her.

"A bet me and her had." Lowri replied. She pushed off from Phil's desk and walked behind him. "Besides, you gave me a two-hour window, not enough time to have a fashion show to decide on an outfit for you." She called after him. "Now what's this fantastic news you've got for me?"

Phil turned his head and smiled, "You'll find out soon enough." He said, Lowri hurried and fell into step beside him. "How was New York?"

"Sad, as usual." Lowri replied. She shrugged her shoulders and slid her hands into her pockets. The elevator opened for them and they stepped in. Phil gave the order for Fury's office and they went up. "It's always sad. And it never gets easier. Whoever said that time heals was so wrong."

"Well, whoever said it probably didn't have your life experience, did they?" Phil asked knowingly.

Lowri shook her head. "Nope. It's not fun being the oldest person around." Lowri said glumly. Phil let out a laugh and shook his head at her. "What?" Lowri asked, a smile grew on her face.

"I like your ability to turn your age into a normal thing." Phil said with a laugh.

"How else am I supposed to let everyone know I'm fast approaching the two hundred mark? I expect a big party." Lowri teased.

"Are you expecting me to be the party planner?" Phil asked, he raised an eyebrow at her and smiled.

"Hell no, I'm throwing my own party. But you can pretty much guarantee that there will be loads of cake." Lowri said firmly.

The elevator dinged open and Lowri and Phil stepped out as a few agents, all of them were looking very happy and excited about something, passed by them and stepped into the elevator before the doors could close on them.

Phil grew quiet as they approached Fury's office, obviously whatever news that had to be told was very big. Was this good or bad news? Was this news about her war friends?

Lowri has been to too many funerals in her lifetime, and even though it hurts her to say her final goodbyes to her friends, she still goes.

Nick Fury was sat at his desk, staring intently at the computer screen, ignoring both of them. While Phil stood in front of Nick's desk with his hands clasped in front of him, waiting for Nick to look up, Lowri sauntered over to the couch on the raised platform far away from the desk and sat down without being invited.

Nick looked up at Phil and then he looked at Lowri, "I know you're a busy woman, Ri, but something has come up." Nick nodded at Phil to leave and it was just her and Nick left in the room.

"I'm not that busy, Nick, I just don't like being called in off leave." Lowri said with a sigh, she leant back and crossed on leg over the other and tugged down the skirt, "So, what has come up? Is it something to do with one of your new projects gone wrong?"

"Not as such, no." Nick said with a small smile, he got to his feet and came towards her, he sat down beside her and looked back at her. Lowri had the impression that something had gone severely wrong and Nick was too worried to tell her and that she was probably going to have to sort whatever the problem is.

"Just tell me, Nick." She said shortly. Her voice rang authority, the one that she tries to keep hidden away but it sometimes slips out when the situation requires it.

"You know about Project Stripe-" Nick began but Lowri held one hand up in front of her to stop him. Nick stopped and looked at her.

" _Tell me._ " She said, repeating her words in her commanding tone.

* * *

 **So... what do you all think is Fury's news for Lowri? Here's a hint, it's pretty big, exciting things to follow.**

 **Anyway, I hope you guys do enjoy and I will be updating this story every Monday.**

 **Read, Review, Follow & Favourite!**

 **REVISED - 26/01/18**


	2. Chapter 2

**Happy Monday, readers! Apologies for the slightly late update, I've just come home from work and I had a power nap, man I'm tired.**

 **Anyway, the upcoming chapter is so big that I had to chop it in half so I'll update that one later on tonight!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own any Marvel characters that may be used or any Marvel storylines or arcs.**

 **Claimer: I only own the character Elizabeth Jones (Lowri Jones and any other names she uses) and her story past, present and future.**

* * *

 _Recap_

 _Nick Fury was sat at his desk, staring intently at the computer screen, ignoring both of them. While Phil stood in front of Nick's desk with his hands clasped in front of him, waiting for Nick to look up, Lowri sauntered over to the couch on the raised platform far away from the desk and sat down without being invited._

 _Nick looked up at Phil and then he looked at Lowri, "I know you're a busy woman, Ri, but something has come up." Nick nodded at Phil to leave and it was just her and Nick left in the room._

 _"I'm not that busy, Nick, I just don't like being called in off leave." Lowri said with a sigh, she leant back and crossed one leg over the other and tugged the skirt down. "So, what has come up? Is it something to do with one of your new projects gone wrong?"_

 _"Not as such, no." Nick said with a small smile, he got to his feet and came towards her, he sat down beside her and looked back at her. Lowri had the impression that something had gone severely wrong and Nick was too worried to tell her and that she was probably going to have to sort out whatever the problem is._

 _"Just tell me, Nick." She said shortly. Her voice rang authority, the one that she tries to keep hidden away but it sometimes slips out when the situation requires it._

 _"You know about Project Stripe-" Nick began but Lowri held one hand up in front of her to stop him. Nick stopped and looked at her._

"Tell me. _" She said, repeating her words in her commanding tone._

* * *

"A call came in 18 hours ago from a Russian oil team looking for oil in the Arctic, and well, they delivered some pretty big news." Nick began, "They've found something big. Something no one has seen in a long time."

Lowri inhaled and exhaled slowly, watching Nick carefully.

"I sent a team of four agents as soon as I got the call in to check it out. They've sent word back to me when you were still in New York." Nick said, he looked at her, "They've found the _Valkyrie._ "

For a moment, it was as though time had stopped and all she could do was stare blankly at Nick. Nothing made sense. What had Nick said? They've found the _Valkyrie_? Impossible. The landscape of the Arctic Circle is always changing and the chances of ever finding the _Valkyrie_ is very, very, very low.

"I'm sorry, Nick… what did you say?" She asked lightly. Lowri planted her hands either side of her for stability as the room spun around her, was it possible to pass out sitting down?

Nick raised an eyebrow at her, "The _Valkyrie._ They've found it in the ice and they're trying right now to dig it out." Nick said, he spoke a little slower.

"Okay." Lowri said, she nodded her head, "Alright." And then it hit her. The _Valkyrie._ They've found it. Her mouth wobbled and then she sat up abruptly. "Oh. Oh, my God. They've found it?" She asked sharply, turning her gaze to Nick.

"Yes." Nick answered. Lowri replied by burying her face in her hands, trying to stop the happy tears from springing down her cheeks.

If Steve is still on there, if his body is still there… she can give him the funeral he deserves, she can lay his body at rest and give him the goodbye she never got to give him. Her heart was about to burst with how happy she felt.

"I'm sending you and Agent Coulson out there with a small team of agents to oversee everything going on. Help where you can." Nick ordered.

Lowri leant back with a smile on her face, completely ignoring the fact that Nick just ordered her to do something.

"You were right to pull me off leave, Nick." Lowri said slowly, "Thank you." She looked out of the window, the smile growing on her face. "I can't believe it."

"Well, believe it. You're leaving in an hour. Coulson and your team are prepping now, so go get some warm stuff." Nick said, smiling as he ordered her again.

Lowri rolled her eyes at him but she stood up and headed for the door.

"Hey, Ri," Nick called after her, she stopped at the door and looked back at him, "You can lay him to rest now."

"I can." Lowri said with a smile before leaving the room. She headed over to the elevator and pulled out her pass, she pressed the little key that is on her pass against the pad beside the screen. "Basement."

The key allows Lowri to override every floor and it allows her access to the Basement. The Basement is the lowest level of S. H. I. E. L. D. and it consists of a series of rooms built right at the start of the organization. It holds all sorts of goodies, things from way back in the day and Howard's babies, mostly the bad ones that he wouldn't let anyone have because they caused so much damage.

Lowri has stuff down here too, deeply personal things that could make trouble for her if she kept them in her flat. Things that were part of a bad past.

But she has got good things down here. Her old memoirs that she's kept since the 1800's and her old kit that she used when she camped out in Russia and Asia and Europe with the Howling Commandos at the end of the war were among things she kept down here.

Howard had designed thermal gear for her to test, even though she didn't need it. To this day, the thermal gear still works better than any of the stuff that can be bought in shops.

She grabbed all the gear that she thought she would need, including the thermal gear and some snow boots, and she got back into the elevator, heading back up to grab her bag from her office. She locked down her office and changed into her thermals and under layers before heading down to the bay where she met up with Phil and the team.

As she waited in the elevator, her phone buzzed and she pulled it out. The elevator stopped and the doors opened, allowing more people in. She checked her messages and found a lengthy document from Agent Hill.

"Command Centre." Came the voice of one of the specialist agents. She heard him settle on his feet but she kept her eyes on her phone, "Going on a mission are you, ma'am?"

Lowri looked up and smiled, "Yes, I am. Apparently, it's a cold one." Lowri replied, smiling up at Grant Ward.

"Well, that won't affect you too much, would it?" Grant Ward asked with a smile.

Lowri shook her head, "No, but I gotta keep up pretence. Not everyone knows about my mutant powers." She said with a laugh.

"Well, good luck on your mission. This is me." Grant said, the elevator stopped and Grant got off.

"Good luck on yours." Lowri replied.

"How did you know I was going on a mission?" Grant asked, turning back to look at her.

"Oh, a simple intuition." Lowri said as the doors closed on them. It was only a few seconds until she was dropped off at the Bay.

The quin jet was almost packed up with their stuff and Phil was waiting for her at the side of the jet, a huge grin on his face.

"I don't think I could have put those words into my mouth." Phil said, explaining how he could not have told her about the plane.

"You're strange." Lowri said, smiling at him. "But, I have to agree. I'm still struggling to understand it."

"It's hard. I get it." Phil said.

"God knows what we're gonna find. Has the team that went ahead of us sent any intel back on whatever else they found?" She asked as he and Lowri paced onto the back of the jet.

Their small team of three, highly skilled agents was already inside, packing away the crates they were taking with them into the sides of the jet.

"No." Phil replied, he spotted her disappointed look and turned to her. "I know you were hoping for a different answer. Where else could he be?"

Lowri shrugged her shoulders in answer. "Are we ready to set off?" She asked, looking around the jet.

"We've got two more crates to bring in and then we should be good to go, ma'am." One of the agents replied.

Lowri nodded her head, "Alright. I'll start the jet up." She said, she dumped her bag before ducking her head to go into the cockpit and she smiled to herself. She really did love flying.

She slid into the pilot's seat and began the process to start the jet up. Behind her, she heard the agents complete their task and then they strapped themselves in and Phil called out they were ready for take-off.

Lowri pushed the throttle forward and initiated the vertical take-off, she called into the control tower and the roof above them lifted open, she flew the jet out of the Bay and began their journey to the Arctic Circle.

Her mind was constantly busy throughout the flight, mostly she was thinking about the man she could finally lay to rest after sixty-seven long years. What else is there with him? What else is on the _Valkyrie_?

The necklace that Steve Rogers had given her before his first mission as part of the Howling Commandos was still hanging around her throat, it looked tarnished and it has aged considerably. But it reminded her of the man she gave her heart to and it reminded her of him and what he stood for.

Finally, she caught sight of the lit-up base and she made a beeline for it but she could barely see the lights. It was snowing heavily but Lowri's an experienced flier and she managed to fly through the snow and she landed safely.

Once on the ground, Lowri could already feel the cold air seeping in and if it was cold enough for her to feel, then it was definitely cold for the others.

"Gear up!" Phil yelled, the agents with them, Brown, Cole and Adams, they began tearing apart some of the crates they'd stored away and once the crates were opened, Lowri could see inside is the new regulated S. H. I. E. L. D. cold weather gear.

Once the agents and Lowri had pulled on the cold weather gear and were satisfied with looking like giant marshmallows, they finally left the jet with packs on their backs.

Outside the jet, a short man stood waiting for them dressed in a bright organ jacket, huddled against the cold with a pair of protective glasses on.

"Agent Coulson," Phil said, offering his gloved hand to the man. It was hard to see him because of how dark the world was around them with the only light coming from the backend of the jet illuminating them.

There's orange lights stuck in the ground, lined up to resemble a path, but it was snowing so heavily that the snow just blocked them out.

Lowri was tempted to light her hands-on fire but she guessed that the storm would just extinguish the fire and she didn't want to take her gloves off.

"Tom Abraham. We've met." The man said.

"Oh, you're one of ours. Good." Lowri said, she strode forward along the dimly lit path and the jet closed up behind her. "Are the Russian oil workers still here?"

"Yes, ma'am." Brown replied, "They're in one of the rooms in the back of the building."

"As soon as we're in, can you take me down to them? I'd like to speak with them." Lowri asked, "And while I'm chatting to the Russians, the rest of you can get those crates from the back of the jet in."

"Ma'am." Abraham replied. He led them down the path and to their left was a large bulky object. "That's the _Valkyrie._ "

"Does it look familiar?" Phil asked, stepping up beside Lowri.

"It looks smaller than I remember." Lowri said quietly. "I only really saw the back of the jet."

"Most of it is still buried in the snow, ma'am." Abraham added. He held open the door to the building and they all stepped into the reception where they were met with a blast of hot air and all Lowri wanted to do was strip off the marshmallow layers.

"You can leave your things here for now, the Russian team is in one of the rooms down there, they're making their statements and being interviewed." Abraham said slowly as Lowri immediately began unzipping her large coat.

"You three start unloading those crates and distribute them, I'm sure we can find somewhere to put them. Phil, get on the horn with Director Fury and let him know the status we stand at. I'll have a chat with our Russian friends." She looked back at Abraham, "Are we making any progress with searching the _Valkyrie_?"

"We're trying to get a way in without damaging the plane, it's proving difficult." Abraham answered. Both Lowri and Phil took off their large coats and thick trousers, they left them on the side as the rest of their team headed back out to the jet.

"Don't worry about damaging the plane. It's like to have damaged by ice already. It's too big to move it as it is, so it'll be taken apart and stored." Lowri said, "Just laser through it. I want that plane searched."

"Ma'am." Abraham said. "The Russian oil workers are down that hall, fourth door on the right."

Lowri moved off down the hall, peering through the doors as she walked. All the doors have a window about three quarters of the way up.

She got the fourth door on the right and looked in, she could see the team of Russian oil workers sitting in the room with one of the S. H. I. E. L. D. agents sitting with them, talking.

Lowri stepped into the room and the S. H. I. E. L. D. agent looked up sharply, a look of recognition passed over his face and he stood pretty sharpish.

"Ma'am." The agent said.

"What's your name, agent?" She asked as she closed the door behind her.

"Ivy, ma'am." Agent Ivy replied.

"Thank you for sitting with these men, Agent Ivy. I'll take over from here. You can re-join your team. You'll be investigating the plane very soon." Lowri said warmly.

"Yes, ma'am." Agent Ivy said before moving to the door and leaving.

There are five men sitting in front of Lowri, each looking at her warily. One of them was sitting closer and he looked sterner than the others.

"I assume you're the leader of the team?" Lowri asked, looking at the forward man.

"My name is Albert." The man said in halting English.

Lowri sat down in the chair that Agent Ivy had just occupied and looked at him.

"Would you prefer to talk in Russian?" She asked gently. The Russian nodded his head. Lowri thanked her own foresight to learn various languages. "When did you find the _Valkyrie_ and when did you contact S. H. I. E. L. D.?"

"Sometime yesterday, I think it was early morning. We contacted our team manager in Russia and he made the call." Albert said in Russian.

"Did your team manager tell you to keep quiet about S. H. I. E. L. D.?" Lowri asked, "We do like to keep in the shadows."

"Yes, we all understand. We have signed documents, promising our silence." Albert said quickly.

Lowri nodded her head, and slowly got to her feet. "Good. Alright, if you and your friends stay here, I'll send someone down to escort you back to your camp so you can continue your work." She said, nodding her head at them.

Lowri left the room and grabbed one of the building's actual workers and got him to escort the Russians back to their camp.

She came across Phil again, he was still in the reception area.

"I've got radio contact with our team heading out. The three that came with us are joining them, the more the merrier I told them." Phil said.

"So, in less than an hour we can know what's in there?" Lowri asked.

"Hopefully." Phil confirmed. "How was the Russians?"

"Scared mostly. They've signed their silence and I sent them back to their camp." Lowri replied. She watched as a group of people rushed past, talking quickly about something. "They're preparing for something big."

"Yeah. We don't know what they're gonna find down there." Phil said.

The wait was long and drawn out, the hours slogged and the minutes ticked away slowly. Lowri and Phil found a small office in the building and claimed it as their own, they set up the equipment and then waited. They alternated coffee and tea runs between them.

Updates from the team through the radio was regular. It took some time for them to actually get into the plane for them to establish that the plane wasn't going to fall under the Arctic's whim any time soon. Eventually, the small team managed to get inside with a light and they explored.

* * *

 **I hope you all enjoy reading, and I will be updating with another chapter later on tonight. (I'm on GMT)**

 **Quick question; What does everyone think of the new name choice for the character?**

 **Read, Review, Follow & Favourite!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Here's the second update of the day! Hope you all enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own any Marvel characters that may be used or any Marvel storylines or arcs.**

 **Claimer: I only own the character Elizabeth Jones (Lowri Jones and any other names she uses) and her story past, present and future.**

* * *

 _Recap_

 _"I've got radio contact with our team heading out. The three that came with us are joining them, the more the merrier I told them." Phil said._

 _"So, in less than an hour we can know what's in there?" Lowri asked._

 _"Hopefully." Phil confirmed. "How was the Russians?"_

 _"Scared mostly. They've signed their silence and I sent them back to their camp." Lowri replied. She watched as a group of people rushed past, talking quickly about something. "They're preparing for something big."_

 _"Yeah. We don't know what they're gonna find down there." Phil said._

 _The wait was long and drawn out, the hours slogged and the minutes ticked away slowly. Lowri and Phil found a small office in the building and claimed it as their own, they set up the equipment and then waited. They alternated coffee and tea runs between them._

 _Updates from the team through the radio was regular. It took some time for them to actually get into the plan for them to establish that the plane wasn't going to fall under the Arctic's whim any time soon. Eventually, the small team managed to get inside with a light and they explored._

* * *

Finally, after hours of waiting, the update that Lowri was desperately waiting to hear came through.

" _We have found Captain Rogers, I repeat, we have found Captain Rogers._ " Came the voice of Agent Adams.

Lowri was stunned into silence as soon as those words were spoken but Phil still kept his cool. He reached for the radio and kept an eye on Lowri.

All colour was gone from her cheeks and she felt weak. She knew that there was already a high chance of finding Steve onboard the plane, but hearing it was still hard.

"Bring him in." Phil ordered.

"Will do, Agent Coulson." Agent Adams replied and that was it.

Lowri's mind was reeling so fast that she felt the room spin and she had to lean against the wall and she slowly slid down. Her head went into her hands and she tried to control her breathing, which was picking up speed alarmingly fast.

"They've found him." Relief soared through her body and she felt like bawling her eyes out at how happy she felt.

Phil immediately got Fury on the line.

"I'm sorry about the late hour sir, but you wanted to know when we found something and we have, we've found him, sir," Phil said calmly. "Yes, sir. We're working on extraction right now with a team of medics on standby to treat our agents for hyperthermia. She's in shock, I believe. I'll make sure she gets something to eat."

Nick must have been talking about her and Lowri looked up, but she didn't want to take the call. She placed her hands on her knees in front of her, breathing hard.

"Yes, sir. I will." Phil hung up the call and looked down at her. He dropped to one knee in front of her. "Are you alright, Ri?" He asked slowly.

She nodded her head.

"Good, they're bringing him in." Phil said, he placed his hands on her shoulders "Stay here and I'll get something for you to eat. Just stay here."

He grabbed the radio set and dashed off down the hall, that was probably a good idea since she was in deep shock and not thinking clearly.

She forced herself to breath slower, and she looked around her. Her mind was going crazy at the thought of seeing Steve again, what would he look like? Would he have been preserved? Would he be decayed? She felt slightly disgusted at the last thought

Her heart raced at the thought of seeing his body.

Phil was back in minutes with a sandwich and a chocolate bar for her.

"They've got him out and he's being moved to the medic centre to defrost. He's been iced over." Phil said.

He wouldn't have aged at all. He would look exactly the same and Lowri's heart almost cracked.

"Eat this. Come on, Ri." Phil pleaded.

Lowri nodded her head and picked up the sandwich, she bit into it numbly, eating for the sake of eating but the sandwich and the chocolate did help calm her nerves. But the wait was almost killing her.

"What did Nick say?" Lowri asked, looking at Phil as he hovered over her.

Phil looked down at Lowri, a mixed look on his face. "He said he wants to work with you to give Captain Rogers a proper funeral. Everything funded by S. H. I. E. L. D., since he was working with the SSR when he went down, and besides, he's a hero to every American." Phil said.

Lowri nodded her head and glanced at her watch. They'd been there for ten hours, only yesterday she was in Central Park, less than twenty-four hours. It's crazy how fast the time has gone but now it was only a matter of time before Steve would be brought in and from there, Lowri doesn't know where she stands.

"Well, that's good." Lowri said, she kept her eyes downwards. "Phil, is it normal for me not to know what I'm feeling?" She asked.

"In a way, yes." Phil said. "You love the man and you're gonna get him back. You never got to say goodbye to him properly and now you have the chance to give him the burial he deserves."

" _Agent Coulson. You need to come to the medic wing, there's something you gotta see._ " Agent Brown said over the radio.

"On our way." Phil replied, "You good to walk, Ri?" Phil asked, looking down at her. Lowri nodded her head and pushed herself to her feet.

"I'm good." Lowri said, she walked beside Phil, heading to the medic wing. As they neared, it was clear that something big was going on inside.

People were rushing about, on the phone, checking tablets and plain panicking.

Agent Cole came out of one of the rooms, a look of complete shock on his face. "Ma'am… Agent Coulson… it's unbelievable." He stammered.

"Why? What's going on in there?" Lowri asked, looking at the double doors from which Agent Cole had just come out of.

"It's so against nature, ma'am." Agent Cole breathed, "He's still alive."

Shock ran through Lowri's body as soon as Agent Cole said the last three words, her breath left her body and her eyesight dimmed considerably, her knees gave way momentarily and she almost fell to the floor but Phil caught her quickly and supported her.

"What do you mean, 'He's still alive?'" Phil asked sharply.

"I mean, he's breathing. When they set about defrosting him, they realised he was still breathing. Even through the ice. His breathing is lowered a lot but he's still breathing." Agent Cole said.

"I need to see." Lowri said, pushing herself from Phil and stepping towards Agent Cole. "I need to see this for myself."

Agent Cole nodded his head numbly and led them through the double doors, now they were in the medic wing and there was even more panic in the air.

Lowri and Phil were led down the corridor to the door right at the end. "There's a viewing room just in here, no one is allowed in the actual room just yet." Agent Cole said.

Lowri and Phil disappeared through the door and inside was the other agents, all watching the window in front of them

She stepped up to the window, her eyes scanning the room on the other side of the window and all of her breath left her body. The window was one of those viewing ones, allowing those on one side of the glass to see in as if looking through a window and the other side acts as a mirror.

Inside the room, there were three medics working feverishly around a large steel table, cabinets were shoved crudely against the walls and the table looked as though it had been wheeled in quickly. There were large heaters sitting on the outskirts of the room, blasting heat into the room.

Lying on the table, still in his battle-worn stars and stripes combat uniform was Steven Rogers.

Lowri's breathing caught in her throat as she peered into the room, he looked like he was sleeping. How the hell could he have survived almost seventy years in the ice?

She stared at him, her heart racing as she tried to understand how the man she came to love is _still_ alive with no known reason, after putting the huge plane into the water. It's not logical and she certainly can't get her head around it.

Phil was asking the same question into the phone, asking Fury who had no answer. It was mind blowing and confusing.

"They're defrosting him right now and they say his heart is still beating." Phil said, the speakers above them stirred to life, reporting that the heartrate of the iced Captain was now at a healthy rate of someone in a deep sleep. "I don't know how he's still alive, sir, but it's a miracle."

Fury began listing off things he wanted to know and wanted to happen and as this happened, Lowri had a breakthrough.

"Give me the phone." Lowri ordered, Phil passed over the phone and Lowri cut off Fury's orders, "Nick, it's that serum he got in '42."

"What are you talking about, Ri?" Nick asked.

"The Super Soldier Serum. It did more than just make him strong. The serum replaces cells at an insane rate and that might be how he's still bloody breathing right now. If his body was frozen for this long and now we're defrosting him, maybe the cells making up his heart are remembering their job. By some mad luck, he's alive." Lowri explained.

"I want you to bring him back to DC as soon as he can be moved." Nick ordered.

"Will do, Nick." Lowri said before hanging up and passing the phone back to Phil.

"What does he want us to do?" Phil asked, sliding the phone away.

"We're bringing him back with us." Lowri said firmly, her eyes locked on the iced man.

Hours passed before Steve was fully defrosted but he seemed to be in a very deep sleep. He was strapped to a stretcher and placed in the back of the jet with one of the medics just in case he woke up and Lowri flew them back to the Triskelion.

Her nerves were driving her crazy, how in the world could she be in this position? She would never have imagined that she'd be flying the unconscious body of her love from seven decades ago.

Lowri landed back in the bay and a team of agents boarded the jet and immediately wheeled Steve off out of sight.

Nick was waiting for her as she got off the jet, his eye searched hers and jerked his head. She fell into step with him and he began asking her questions.

"Are you alright with us trying to wake him?" Nick asked straight off as they stepped into the elevator. Nick stuck his key into the lift and they began bypassing every other floor. "My office or your office?"

"Mine. I need a drink." Lowri said, she called out for her office and they shot up. "Yes. We should wake him, or at least try to." She said.

The elevator opened up to the hallway leading to Lowri's office and she swiped her card over the scanner by the door and it opened for her.

"Besides, Steve gave his life for this country and he deserves more than anything to live in this country, to live the life that he lost. If he can adjust." Lowri said as she paced into her office. She went straight for her desk where she had a bottle of whisky stashed away. "Want some?" She asked as she unscrewed the lid. Nick shook his head at her.

"So, you're good with us trying to wake him?" Nick asked slowly.

"As long as you've got a careful plan with like three back up plans, then yeah. Wake him." Lowri reached for her glass and then looked up at Nick and put the bottle of whisky down. "But, you can't just shake him awake and tell him that it's the twenty first century and that everyone he knew is either dead or in a nursing home."

Lowri picked up the bottle again and poured herself a generous double shot of whisky.

"We haven't got a plan yet." Nick said slowly.

"Well, we better think of one fast. Now is not the time to wait around." Lowri said, she paused and breathed in deeply. "He's gonna freak. He's gonna refuse to believe that he's in a different century completely. He's gonna think we're Nazis playing tricks on him. And he's strong. Like, incredibly strong. This isn't an easy task."

"We probably have something, some sort of procedure, similar to this situation deep in the paper files. We can do some digging." Nick said.

Lowri turned to him, glass in hand with a calm look. "Never, ever, in S. H. I. E. L. D. history has anything like this happened. There will not be a procedure for a man sleeping in ice for almost seventy years and how to wake him." She downed the whisky in her glass and reached for another.

"Then we'll just have to be careful about the entire thing." Nick said carefully. "You knew the guy, what's the best way to wake him up?"

"I don't know." Lowri said before knocking back her second double shot. She looked down at her desk and let out a sigh. "New York. He grew up in New York and he told me once that New York would always be his home. I want him to be in New York when he does wake up. And we've got a good medical wing there. The city has changed but there may be something there that can jog his memory." Lowri said as she poured her third helping.

"I'm gonna have to send you home if you keep drinking like that." Nick said humorously.

Lowri raised an eyebrow at him as she measured her third double shot. "How would you react when you found out someone you knew almost seventy years ago is still alive?" Lowri asked before knocking that one back too. "It doesn't bloody help that he looks the same too. Bloody handsome man."

"I can't have you drunk at work." Nick added.

Lowri rolled her eyes and poured her fourth as she rounded her desk and sat down in the seat.

"When have you ever seen me drunk? Never." Lowri said firmly. "Back to the issue lying down in our medic centre-"

Nick wheeled around and looked at her sharply.

"Hold up, did you just call the man you love 'the issue'?" He stared at her, waiting for her to answer but Lowri poured herself another drink. "Right, that's your _last_ drink. I need you clear headed. He is more than an issue."

Lowri placed her drink down on the table and looked up at Nick with a serious look in her eyes. She was in no mood to be playing around, if she wanted more of her aged whisky, then she would have some of her damn whisky.

"In the last 48 hours, I took my leave from S. H. I. E. L.D. to go to the memorial that I set up for the man I never got to say goodbye to because he sacrificed his life to save this country and his best friend, only to be called off leave a day early to be told that the plane he was in had been found and when I got there, it turns out that they've found him and that _he's still alive._ " Lowri said, she took a large gulp of her whisky. "How am I supposed to react?"

"Happy." Nick said firmly. "I don't think anyone got down to writing the rulebook but I guess being happy must be a start, ya know, you get to see him again. I'm pretty sure that the way to go is not to down the entire bottle of a forty-year whisky in one sitting."

Lowri smiled and sipped at her drink.

"Okay. I think I got a plan." Nick said, he pressed his hands on the table and looked her dead in the eye. "You're off this. This is all on me." Nick said, Lowri opened her mouth to protest but Nick shot her a look and she clamped her mouth shut. "This case is far too close to you. I'd suggest you find something to keep you busy for the unforeseeable future while we deal with Captain Rogers and figure all this out."

"Just make sure you do nothing ridiculous." Lowri said, tipping the contents of her glass down her throat.

Nick smiled, "No promises." He turned back to her.

"Well, while you work on our issue downstairs, I think I'll start training those new recruits we've brought in." Lowri said, she pushed her glass away and got to her feet.

"Are you sure that's wise?" Nick asked, shooting her a careful look as they headed back for the elevator. "You just drank like half the bottle of whisky."

"And I'm 100% sober." Lowri said firmly. "Honestly, Nick, I can't get drunk. The whisky hasn't taken effect at all."

They went their separate ways, Nick headed down to his office to continue working on Project Stripes and Lowri headed down to the training rooms to help with the training.

That was her way to help deal with the issue at hand. She has no idea how she's supposed to act now and she was sure that every agent that knew her history with the unconscious man lying in their medical bay was eyeing her carefully, watching her reactions and it set her on edge.

Helping with the new recruits certainly helped keep her mind busy but the six weeks that passed from finding Steve alive to him finally waking up, it was exhausting.

* * *

 **And that's the updates for this week, next update will land on the coming Monday!**

 **Thanks all for reading, hope to hear off some of you**

 **Read, Review, Follow & Favourite!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Apologies for the slightly late update! This has been my only day off for this week and time has run away from me! Hope you all enjoy.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own any Marvel characters that may be used or any Marvel storylines or arcs.**

 **Claimer: I only own the character Elizabeth Jones (Lowri Jones and any other names she uses) and her story past, present and future.**

* * *

 _Recap_

 _"Just make sure you do nothing ridicules." Lowri said, tipping the contents of her glass down her throat._

 _Nick smiled, "No promises." He turned back to her._

 _"Well, while you work on our issue downstairs, I think I'll start training those new recruits we've brought in." Lowri said, she pushed her glass away and got to her feet._

 _"Are you sure that's wise?" Nick asked, shooting her a careful look as they headed back for the elevator. "You just drank like half the bottle of whisky."_

 _"And I'm 100% sober." Lowri said firmly. "Honestly, Nick, I can't get drunk. The whisky hasn't taken effect at all."_

 _They went their separate ways, Nick headed down to his office to continue working on Project Stripes and Lowri headed own to the training rooms to help with the training._

 _That was her way to help deal with the issue at hand. She has no idea how she's supposed to act now and she was sure that every agent that knew her history with the unconscious man lying in their medical bay was eyeing her carefully, watching her reactions and it set her on edge._

 _Helping with the new recruits certainly helped keep her mind busy but the six weeks that passed from finding Steve alive to him finally waking up, it was exhausting._

* * *

Lowri visited Steve each evening before she left to go home. She sat with him in his room in the medic bat for half an hour each night, sometimes she talks about her work and her life and other times she just sat there watching him sleep.

It was so strange to see him in this modern world. It was so strange to see him again, in fact. He looked so peaceful as he slept in a deep sleep that no one could shake him from.

While she sat there, Lowri's mind often went back to their last shared moment together, that wonderful kiss that she instigated and her last words to him.

After about four weeks, Steve was moved from the medical bay in the Triskelion and he was taken to the New York S. H. I. E. L. D. base, on Lowri's suggestion. New York was the place where Steve was raised and he lived there for his short adult life before joining the army. It would be good for him to wake up in a city he knew.

Lowri stayed in DC when Steve was moved. After another long week, Lowri was called in by Nick, he informed her that Steve's breathing became shallower and he was moving his fingers were so slightly and his eyelids were almost flickering. Steve was finally showing signs of waking up and Lowri was there as quickly as she could.

Lowri went straight up to Nick's office and the first thing she said was: Is he awake yet?

"He's waking up." Nick stated, he turned to Lowri and she nodded her head quickly.

"Have you got precautions ready for when he wakes up?" Lowri asked, she looked out of the window and spied the civilians going about their day, unknowing what was happening just feet away. Lowri felt as though the world had stopped.

"Yeah, we're putting him in a 1940's stimulated environment, just so we can calm him down before we break the news. Slowly. We're not gonna overload him." Nick said.

"I guess waking up in another century is pretty shocking." Lowri said, turning her head back to him and smiling at Nick. "As long as you don't make it like a circus show."

"I promise I won't." Nick said with a smile.

"And you have to be careful, Steve's strong. If he wakes up and catches onto that it's fake, there's a good chance that he's gonna break free." Lowri said.

"I've taken that into consideration, Ri." Nick said slowly.

"Good. I don't want anything bad to happen." She said.

The week that followed was tense for all agents close to the case, as well as Lowri. But, despite the suspension building up all week, she was ready to pack up and leave New York, she was tired of waiting and waiting for something that might never happen.

Each day, she visited Steve's room for a few minutes and looked in. She actually liked just watching him sleep. It was something she had never got to enjoy back then.

There were no machines attached to him, but he was monitored differently. The room was like a stage set inside a bigger room, there was a backdrop against every window displaying 1940's New York and hidden speakers, playing the sounds of 1940's New York.

When Lowri first entered the room and it was all silent, she felt as though she was actually back in the 1940's New York.

The room was set up to look like an old American private hospital room even with the radio playing a 1940's game.

She was scared to be in the room with him, that's why she only stayed for a few minutes. What if he wakes up and she has to explain that everyone he knew was either dead or very old and bid-ridden. She doesn't want to have that job.

Lowri stood in a room just off from the larger room, completely separate from everyone else. Not by choice, they had all left to go on their lunch break and Lowri decided to skip.

"There's no change." Nick said from the doorway. This was the third day of waiting out, hoping that Steve would finally wake up but so far, he's only displaying signs of very light sleep.

The monitor displaying the camera feed from within Steve's hospital room was in front of her, playing the same image over and over again, Steve lying on the bed, unmoving.

"It's antagonising." Lowri sighed, she turned from the monitor and looked at Nick standing in the doorway.

"He'll wake up." Nick said, he stepped into the room and stopped beside her. "He just needs time. He's been in a deep sleep."

Lowri nodded her head slowly and crossed her arms over her chest, "It's the wait that's killing me."

"We never talked about what you're gonna do when he wakes up." Nick said, leaning on the counter in front of them.

"I don't know what I'll do, Nick." Lowri said, she shrugged her shoulders and then brought her hand up to touch the necklace around her neck. "I could run away in fear because I'm a changed woman, or I could run right towards him and kiss him. But he's going to have so much to adjust to, he has to learn to adjust to a new century with advanced technology, different food, different ways of life and he has to learn all the deaths and illnesses."

"What about you?" Nick asked slowly.

"That, we can both agree on." Nick said humorously.

Lowri rolled her eyes but she turned to him with a sad look on her face. "What should I do, Nick?" She asked, she tilted her head slightly and smiled warmly, "Come on, I need your wise head."

"I think you're the wise one, Ri." Nick said, turning to her. "You need to do what you think you need to do. I'll stick by your decision, whatever you decide."

Lowri groaned, "But I don't know what to do. If I tell him… then I've gotta explain what I am and why I've kept my secret for so long and why I didn't tell him. But I know that if I see him again, I'm just going to blurt out everything. I did the last time I saw him."

She turned from Nick as flashes of her last conversation with Steve passed her mind. It wasn't even a real conversation, she told him that she loved him and he had stared at her stupidly.

"I'll keep you updated." Nick said before turning and leaving her in the room once more.

Lowri dropped her head and groaned. What would she do when Steve woke up?

"Good morning." A woman's voice rang out through the room and Lowri snapped her head up. Steve was awake. Lowri's breath quickened as her eyes searched the monitor above her.

Steve sat on the bed with his hands braced on either side of him on the bed, he was looking right at the female agent dressed as a nurse from the 40's, watching her sceptically.

 _She'd missed him waking up! She missed it!_

"Or should I say, good afternoon?" The agent continued, keeping the smile on her face but she should have already clocked on to how Steve was looking so tense.

Steve was very cautious and Lowri's heart swelled with pride as she saw the sceptical look on his face. Here he is, having woken from an almost seventy-year sleep yet he was still the man she knew him to be, sharp.

He wasn't even drowsy. His eyes darted around the room, quickly taking everything in and then he turned his head to the radio. Lowri could see the cogs turning in his mind and he looked back at the agent.

"Where am I?" Steve asked, his voice gave away nothing that would alert the agent standing in front of him. She smiled widely at him.

"You're in a recovery room in New York." The agent answered, she had been instructed to deliver her answers in ways that were truthful and not to give away too much detail.

"Where am I really?" Steve asked, this time his voice was deeper and it made him sound a little more dangerous and serious, he got to his feet quickly and the agent knew they were going into deep territory now.

"I'm afraid, I don't understand." The agent said quietly.

"The game." Steve said firmly, he jerked his head towards the radio, all the while keeping his glare aimed at the agent. "It's from May 1941, I know because I was there." Steve said, his eyes searched the agent's once more. "Now, I'm going to ask you one more time. Where am I?" Steve asked, he closed the gap between the agent and himself so there were only two steps separating them. Close enough to be intimidating, but far away enough not to hurt her.

The agent pressed the alarm button she carried and two fully kitted out agents kicked the door open with their rifles at the ready.

Steve's hands went flying up to show he meant no harm and to caution the kitted-out agents.

The two agents stepped around the female agent and she moved to press herself against the wall.

Steve didn't make the first move, the two agents stepped forwards again, rifles still raised and they tried to calm him but Steve wasn't having any of that.

He threw both of the agents against one of the walls and since the walls are made out of plaster, the two agents crashed through and it just so happened that the wall that gave away was the one with the only camera mounted up.

The camera went offline straightaway and Lowri went blind. She pushed off from the table and threw herself out of the door. She spied him disappearing around the corner and she pushed herself harder.

"All agents, Code 13. I repeat, Code 13." The female agent announced. The warning sounded throughout the entire building and as Lowri came out into the main hallway, she could see most of the agents were on the floor, all unharmed, just shoved out of the way and shocked.

Lowri's hair flew out behind her as she ran, luckily, she had her earpiece in and Nick reported to her that Steve had left the building and was heading for Time Square.

Her chest burned as she ran, her breathing was shallow and fast as she left the building and paused when she saw the crowds outside, she managed to work through the crowds and headed for Time Square.

She came to stop on the outskirts of a large crowd of people, all gathered around the large black cars belonging to S. H. I. E. L. D. and right in the middle of this circle was Steve.

Lowri pushed her hair away from her face as the crowds pressed forward. She had to push her way forward, shoving people out of the way.

Steve looked so confused as he spun in a circle, taking in the cars, the tourists, the shops, the over-the-top lighting and the big screens up on the buildings. Nick stood by the side of one of the cars, calmly looking at Steve. Steve seemed to be ignoring whatever Nick was saying.

"You've been asleep, Cap, for almost seventy years." Nick said, his words hung in the air and this drew Steve's attention. Steve turned back to Nick with wide eyes.

"It's just," He let out a sigh and then looked back at the crowds around him. "I had a date."

As Steve looked over the crowds, his eyes nearly came to rest upon her but before he could see her, she turned on her heel and her hair flew out behind her as she made the tough decision to not make herself known to him just yet. But she wants to talk to him. She's torn.

She had heard the defeat in his voice and her heart ached for him.

" _Get back to the office, Ri._ " Nick ordered over comms. Lowri didn't have the heart to complain, she simply pushed her way out of the crowds and legged it back to the base.

She slowed her pace when she reached the base, she forced herself to breath calmly as she walked through the main reception to the elevator. She remained calm throughout the ride but as soon as she got to her office, she collapsed into her chair and put her face in her hands.

" _We're coming back to you. Do you wanna see him?_ " Nick asked over comms.

Lowri inhaled deeply and made her decision quickly. Steve had almost seen her in Time Square but she knew it was time for him to see her.

"Bring him to me _._ " She said quickly.

* * *

 **I'm busy all week this week and most of next week so I'm not too sure when the next update is, hopefully I'll have some time to spare!**

 **Thanks all for reading, hope to hear off you.**

 **Read, Review, Follow & Favourite!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Happy Tuesday, my lovelies!**

 **Apologies for not updating yesterday, it was my Nannie's 80th birthday so naturally, I spent the day with her. I hope you all enjoy the update!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own any Marvel characters that may be used or any Marvel storylines or arcs.**

 **Claimer: I only own the character Elizabeth Jones (Lowri Jones and any other names she uses) and her story past, present and future.**

* * *

 _Recap_

 _"You've been asleep, Cap, for almost seventy years." Nick said, his words hung in the air and this drew Steve's attention, Steve turned back to Nick with wide eyes._

 _"It's just," He let out a sigh and then looked back at the crowds around him. "I had a date."_

 _As Steve looked over the crowds, his eyes nearly came to rest upon her but before he could see her, she turned on her heel and her hair flew out behind her as she made the tough decision not to make herself known to him just yet. But she wants to talk to him. She's torn._

 _She had heard the defeat in his voice and her heart ached for him._

 _"_ Get back in the office, Ri _." Nick ordered over comms. Lowri didn't have the heart to complain, she simply pushed her way out of the crowds and legged it back to the base._

 _She slowed her pace when she reached the base, she forced herself to breathe calmly as she walked through the main reception to the elevator. She remained calm throughout the ride but as soon as she got to her office, she collapsed into her chair and out her face in her hands._

 _"_ We're coming back to you. Do you wanna see him _?" Nick asked over comms._

 _Lowri inhaled deeply and made her decision quickly. Steve had almost seen her in Time Square but she knew it was time for him to see her._

 _"_ Bring him to me _." She said quickly._

* * *

Lowri sat up and breathed out heavily. This was happening. In a few minutes, Steve would walk through that door and see her looking exactly how she did almost seventy years ago and she was so sure that he would have loads of questions.

She looked about her office and spotted the mirror. She grabbed a brush from the desk and headed over to sort her hair out before going back to her desk and dumping the brush. Her cheeks were red and her eyes looked almost as red, as if she was on the verge of tears.

Suddenly, her door opened when she was leaning over her desk to drop the brush into the drawer, she turned sharply and as soon as she locked eyes on Steve, he gasped and stepped back.

"I've explained about everything else except for you." Nick said, he stood in the office and he gave her a small smile. "I'll leave you two alone."

"Thanks, Nick." Lowri said gently, she clasped her hands in front of her, her eyes never leaving Steve.

He hovered just beyond the doorway, staring at her with wide eyes and he was steadily growing pale.

Nick passed by Steve and headed off to his own office, leaving her and Steve alone. Lowri breathed in deeply before speaking.

"Please, sit." Lowri said, gesturing to the chair by her desk. She stepped away from her desk so he could sit without having to go too close to her.

Steve lost all of his colour and then he dropped to the floor in a dead faint.

Lowri's mouth dropped open and she slammed her office door shut. She didn't want the other agents seeing Steve like this, she checked his breathing and then propped him on his side and she moved back to her desk. Steve was probably in shock from seeing her.

She pressed her lips together and her mind ran amok. How much had she actually changed that made her seem so unrecognisable to him? She had been in his presence for minutes before he fainted, what had changed about her? Had she aged? Had her face changed?

Sure, she was in a different position, as was all females. But she was also at the head of a large intelligence agency and she seemed to be influential on quite a lot of people.

Minutes passed by before Steve stirred and he rolled onto his back, he seemed dazed as he stared up at the ceiling.

Lowri jumped from her desk and she fell to her knees beside Steve, she placed a gentle hand on his shoulder and he looked up at her.

"Steve." She said softly. Just saying his name brought out so many emotions in her that she had buried deep over the years. "You're okay. You fainted."

"I-I'm sorry." Steve said, his voice sounded dazed. "You look like a person I knew a long time ago." He looked at her with searching eyes and a small smile came over his face as he remembered something. He pulled himself up into a sitting position and he leaned back against the wall behind him. "Are you related to a woman named Elizabeth Jones?"

"Oh, Steve." Lowri breathed out. She felt tears come to her eyes and she bit them back. "Steve, it's me."

"No." Steve said firmly. He shook his head and blinked his eyes. "She'd be in her nineties now. Are you her granddaughter? You look exactly like her."

"I know you're in shock, Steve." Lowri said gently, she looked over at him, her eyes practically brimming with tears but she refused to cry in front of him. "But it's me. I'm Elizabeth."

At this, a thought came to her head. All those years ago, Steve had left a beautiful necklace alongside a note on her desk and she had worn it every day since. She discovered that the chain and pendant were both resistant to her fire along the years.

Lowri reached under her neckline of her shirt and pulled out the aged pendant. She unclasped the necklace and offered it to him. He took the chain in one hand and stared at it with disbelief.

"I know this is hard to grasp, Steve, but I am who I say I am." Lowri said gently. "You gave me this necklace by leaving it on my desk in the London SSR base in 1943 before you went on your first mission with the Howling Commandos. You wrote me a note. It said: _Elizabeth, please forgive me, I can explain everything when we see each other again. I am sorry. Steve._ "

Steve looked up at her with wide eyes and then he shot to his feet, startling Lowri. She scrambled backwards as Steve loomed over her, a look of concentration on his face. For once, Lowri was scared of him.

Her breathing hitched as the fear began to take hold, Steve's eyes bore right into hers, trying to find out if she is lying or not.

"You're not Elizabeth. You can't be." Steve said firmly.

Lowri wiped at her eyes and then slowly rose to her feet. She spied her necklace tight in Steve's grasp and then she looked up at him carefully.

"I have something to explain, Steve. And I have good reason." Lowri said. "You're suspicious, I know, but please, listen to me."

"Why should I?" Steve asked sharply.

"Do I need to repeat my last words to you?" Lowri asked quickly. She stood her ground and looked at him with stern eyes. Steve waited for her to say something. "I said ' _Neither do I._ ' We were talking about going dancing after the war was over and you pushed it back. We were talking about how neither of us could dance and you never got to finish your sentence."

Lowri's voice almost broke and the tears that threatened to spill, did. She wiped at her eyes almost angrily and then she looked away from him.

"I don't know what else I can say to you to make you believe me." Lowri said with a sigh.

"This is ridiculous. You can't be Elizabeth." Steve insisted. He stood on the other end of the room from her and he looked at her with a sceptical look.

"But I am her and she is me." Lowri said quickly. "I stopped aging when I was twenty-one, I have been alive for a long time and I've seen a lot of things. You have to believe me, Steve." Lowri said.

Steve looked at her carefully and Lowri turned from him. She stepped over to her desk and she pulled out her bottle of whisky from the 1970's and two glasses. She began pouring into one of the glasses when Steve spoke.

"Elizabeth." Steve said quietly.

Lowri turned to face him and she smiled gently. She put the bottle of whisky on the table and turned to him fully.

"I haven't been called that name in a long time." Lowri replied slowly. She leant back against the table and Steve took a step closer to her.

"What do you go by now, then?" Steve asked. He looked curious and that was good for Lowri.

"A name that my mother and father gave to me." Lowri said, she turned back to the glasses and resumed pouring. Each of the glasses were three-quarters full and she took both in her hand. "Well, part of the name anyway. I go by the name of Lowri Evelyn Jones."

Lowri held out one of the glasses to Steve and he looked at it. Gingerly, he stepped closer and closer until he took the glass then retreated a few steps.

"You need to explain to me what's going on." Steve said slowly, he sniffed at the whisky and Lowri took a deep sip of hers to prove that it definitely wasn't poisoned.

"That's a fair point." Lowri said, now that things seemed stable, she felt a bit more at ease. She took a deep breath and began. "When I was eighteen, I went down with a fever and I woke up with something strange happening."

Lowri looked up at him and opened her mouth and words poured out, explaining every single little detail about herself that she had hidden from him.

"First of all, I'm not going to say how old I am exactly, but I am older than you." Lowri began. She finished off her drink and then took a seat at her desk and poured herself another shot. Steve took another sip of the whisky and moved further into the room.

"I can heal very quickly and my immune system is pretty tough to crack. I never get sick days because I never get sick." Lowri said,

Steve downed his drink and then stepped closer again.

"Do you want to sit down, Steve?" Lowri asked as she reached for his empty glass.

Steve nodded his head and pulled out the chair opposite her and then moved it so it was beside the desk and closer to her.

Lowri smiled warmly at his gesture of trust and she poured him another drink and passed it back to him.

"Drink up. This is the tough bit." She said with a sigh.

Steve looked at her carefully and took another sip of his whisky.

"I'm glad that you can't get drunk because if you could, you would pass it off as the alcohol taking effect." Lowri said as she lifted up her hand in front of her. Steve gave her a curious look and then he looked at her hand.

A small flame came to life in the centre of her palm and Steve recoiled immediately with a look of horror on his face.

"This skill came to me when I was eighteen." Lowri said softly, she closed her palm and extinguished the fire. "Do you remember the final Hydra base? You were trapped by a Hydra soldier using fire and then it went out. That was me."

"You? You did that?" Steve asked.

Lowri nodded her head and picked up her glass again. "I'm not exactly sure of what I am, but I'm pretty sure I'm a mutant of some kind." She said before downing her whisky.

"And you could do all that back then?" Steve asked, he still looked pale but the whisky was certainly helping to put colour back into his cheeks.

"Yes." Lowri said, pouring herself another drink. Steve finished off his and Lowri topped his off too. "I've been doing this for a long time."

"Who else knew about you back then?" Steve asked slowly.

"Peggy knew. I lived in close quarters with her for some time and it was rather hard to hide. And Chester knew."

"Who's Chester?" Steve asked, he took a gulp of his drink and then put the glass back down on the table.

"Oh, Chester Phillips. Colonel Phillips." Lowri explained. "The car we were in, the one that got you to the _Valkyrie,_ the backend dropped over the edge of the cliff and Chester managed to get out and I fell. But I can manipulate my fire to make myself fly, and that's how he found out."

Steve looked up at her sharply. "You can fly?" Lowri smiled and nodded her head slowly. "I'm pretty sure I'm in a messed-up dream right now." Steve said.

Lowri shook her head and took another sip of her drink, "No, you're not. This is real life." Lowri said seriously.

Her eyes flew to the door when she spied Nick standing in the doorway, staring at them.

"So, I see you found another bottle of whisky." Nick said as he stepped into the room. "And almost half is gone."

"Well, explaining all of this does require alcohol to be involved." Lowri said, smiling as she lifted her glass and toasted Nick. She downed the contents of her glass and reached for the bottle.

"How many glasses have you had?" Nick asked.

"Four. This is my fifth. I think." Lowri replied, she topped off Steve's and then capped the bottle and put it back down.

Nick reached over and picked the bottle up, "Well, I'm cutting you off. Coulson is on line four." Nick said, holding the bottle behind his back.

"Then why wasn't the call put through to me?" Lowri asked, she leant forward and looked at her phone.

"I told them to hold off with the calls until you'd told Captain Rogers about you. And judging by how pale he is, you have." Nick said, "Captain Rogers, if you'll come with me, I'll show you where you'll be staying tonight and give you some time to understand all this."

Steve nodded his head slowly and put down his empty glass, he stood up and looked down at Lowri.

"I guess, I'll see you around, Elizabeth." Steve said slowly.

"Whatever happens now, Steve, it'll be alright." Lowri said as she reached for the phone that had begun ringing in the past few seconds. "Nick, I want that bottle back." Lowri called out before Nick left. She earned herself a smirk from Nick. Steve left the room after Nick, still pale.

She felt so bad for him, but she was so glad that he knew she was still alive. Hopefully, they can pick up where they left off, but Lowri seriously doubted that.

Lowri picked up the phone and reached for her glass of whisky.

"Hey there, Phil." Lowri said before taking a sip.

"Hi. Got a problem with a few of those projects you're overlooking, including Insight and Zodiac. You're gonna need to come back ASAP." Phil said.

"Is it nothing you can't handle? I mean, he's woken up. And I think I need to be there for him." Lowri said, turning away from the door.

"I've tried. Those contractors are getting behind on the project and I believe your knack for getting your way would definitely help in this situation." Phil said, "I know he's just woken up, Fury let the word spread. But you said yourself that he needs space."

"I just spent half an hour drinking with him, as I explained what the hell I am and I don't think he wants to believe it. To be honest, I think it would have been easier if I had just grown old and died." Lowri sighed. "I'll grab a jet and be over in a few hours."

"Good." Phil said before hanging up.

Lowri put the phone and reached for her glass. She downed her final glass of whisky and put it back down on her desk. She righted her office and used the comms to talk to Nick.

"I'm going back to DC within the hour." Lowri said over comms.

" _Is that what Coulson called you about?_ " Nick replied.

"Yes. Something about Insight and Zodiac, so I better go sort it out. Uh, tell Steve that I've had to go back to DC. Just make up something, better not tell him about any of the projects yet." Lowri said.

" _That's probably best. Speak soon._ " Nick said.

Lowri nodded to herself and then headed off to the underground garage where the cars were kept, she grabbed one and drove to the separate bay where the jets are kept. She took one and was on her way back to DC with her mind filled of Steve and the way he had looked at her.

Back in DC, she dealt with the problems with the projects run by her quickly and she was eager to get back to New York to see Steve again but she knew she had to dial it back and give him space to adjust to the new world he had to live in. She realised with a saddening thought, that Steve still had the necklace that he given to her and she had given back to make him realise it was her.

In fact, it was weeks that passed before she received a call off him, he asked her to tell her story again, about her fire and her non-aging and how she can't get drunk either. Then, he asked about their friends.

He told her that Nick had given him files on those he had fought with during the war and he had yet to read them.

Steve said that he really wanted to know what had happened to all his old friends and comrades, but at the same time, he didn't want to read about illnesses and the deaths.

Lowri felt so bad for not being there as he transitions from one century to the next, she really should be there for him.

She was stood in her DC office, a large stack of papers standing in front of her on her desk and hundreds of emails on her laptop, waiting for her attention but all she wanted to do was fly straight back to New York and see Steve again.

"Are you settled now, Steve?" Lowri asked carefully. She didn't want her voice to give away her feelings.

"Yeah. Until I can find a place for myself in New York, I've been put into one of the rooms in the building, in, uh, S. H. I. E. L. D." Steve said, he sometimes found it awkward to talk about the organisation. "Food's not that bad. Tastes a lot better."

"I'm guessing that you're allowed out and about the city?" Lowri asked with a small laugh.

"Not exactly, I have two agents tailing me wherever I go outside the building." Steve replied.

"Next time you're out, you've gotta try this pizza place just around the corner from the agency." Lowri said quickly, "The pizza is the best I've ever had, it takes me back."

"I'll try it next time." Steve promised.

Lowri really wanted to promise to come back to New York ASAP but she couldn't bring herself to say the words. Her work was so busy and demanding, Steve was pushed to the back of her mind.

* * *

 **From Saturday to the next Saturday, there won't be an update as I am on a week long camp! The reception will be spotty and I won't have any time to write or update, I'm afraid. I'll try to update before I go but again, I'm not sure if I have time. Everyone's having time off from work and guess who has to cover them? That's right, me.**

 **Thanks all for reading, I hope to hear off some of you.**

 **Read, Review, Follow & Favourite!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Happy Saturday to all my Readers! Today is a good day, I've got a week off work and I'll be going on Camp, so I thought I'd update but you lot are lucky, you're getting two chapters instead of one today as the original chapter is so huge!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own any Marvel characters that may be used or any Marvel storylines or arcs.**

 **Claimer: I only own the character Elizabeth Jones (Lowri Jones and any other names she uses) and her story, past, present and future.**

* * *

 _Recap_

 _Lowri felt so bad for not being there as he transitions from one century to the next, she really should be there for him._

 _She was stood in her DC office, a large stack of papers standing in front of her on her desk and hundreds of emails on her laptop, waiting for her attention but all she wanted to do was fly straight back to New York and see Steve again._

 _"Are you settled now, Steve?" Lowri asked carefully. She didn't want her voice to give away her feelings._

 _"Yeah. Until I can find a place for myself in New York, I've been put into one of the rooms in the building, in, uh, S. H. I. E. L. D." Steve said, he sometimes found it awkward to talk about the organisation. "Food's not that bad. Tastes a lot better."_

 _"I'm guessing that you're allowed out and about the city?" Lowri asked with a small laugh._

 _"Not exactly, I have two agents tailing me wherever I go outside the building." Steve replied._

 _"Next time you're out, you've gotta try this pizza place just around the corner from the agency." Lowri said quickly, "The pizza is the best I've ever had, it takes me back."_

 _"I'll try it next time." Steve promise_ d.

 _Lowri really wanted to promise to come back to New York ASAPP but she couldn't bring herself to say the words. Her work was so busy and demanding, Steve was pushed to the back of her mind._

* * *

Another few weeks dragged on and the workload mounted up but Lowri was already working on the transfer reports to transfer leadership roles of different projects to different people, just to ease her workload.

Finally, Lowri decided to take a break from it all and headed to the Mojave Desert to check up on the progress of Project P. E. G. A. S. U. S. and on the agent leading the project, Clint Barton.

Project P. E. G. A. S. U. S. held great interest for her since it was all about monitoring the Tesseract, the weapon which Johann Schmidt had harnessed during the war to make those terrible weapons, which were in storage on the base in the Mojave Desert. But she was also very against it.

Doctor Selvig, the lead scientist was brought in for his own protection and because this field is his speciality. He was very interested in getting to know the Tesseract and he had summoned Lowri to the base in the early days of the project so she could give her statement on the Tesseract.

She had never seen it before they found it lying in the ocean when they first began searching for Steve in late 1945. But she had known the effects of the Tesseract well.

When they had infiltrated the final Hydra base deep under the Alps, she had been shot when she ran with the army with one of Hydra's weapons, developed using the Tesseract's energy. Instead of disintegrating on the spot like every other victim she saw, she received a horrible burn and she still holds the scar today which is unusual, all scars disappear by a few weeks, but this scar was almost seventy years old.

After the SSR and the army had infiltrated and destroyed the Hydra army, they took over the base and sent all of the Hydra weapons back to London to be tested on by Howard. They came into S. H. I. E. L. D.'s hands when the organisation was formed

Doctor Selvig was extremely interested in the history and he clapped his hands in glee when Lowri gave the order for those weapons to be delivered for the project just so Doctor Selvig could understand the Tesseract a little better.

During her brief visit to the base in the Mojave Desert, her attention was brought to the Tesseract because it had recently began giving off strangely high energy levels.

Clint stayed up in his nest, observing the area from afar, as he does best but Lowri stood close to the Tesseract, watching it spike and drop then spike again.

"I don't like it." Lowri said, she turned to Doctor Selvig and saw that he was frantically trying to calm the Tesseract down. "There's no way to shut her down, is it?"

"None that seems to be working." Doctor Selvig answered. This had been going on for four hours and Lowri was on edge.

"I'm calling evac." Lowri said, she reached up and turn on her comms. "Barton, announce evac. I want this place empty just in case this thing blows."

"Aye, aye." Clint agreed, he announced the evac and slowly, the agents agreed. Twenty minutes later, while agents began working hard on the evac, Phil arrived.

He wanted to know what was going on and once Lowri had told him, he agreed with the evac and called Nick in. He went up to wait for him and Lowri stayed in the underground cavern where the Tesseract is housed.

"Barton, is she looking any different than last time?" Lowri asked over comms, she glanced up at the far away corner where Clint was sitting calmly.

" _Not any different. You should pop up here more often. You've only been up here once. It's a great view._ " Clint replied, Lowri rolled her eyes at him and smiled, knowing what was coming next. " _Hey, don't roll your eyes at me, Misfire._ "

Clint has this insane gift; his eyesight is literally perfect and he can see from far away, which is why he prefers to be up in his nest. During his training, he had perfect scores on his weapons. He preferred using a bow and arrow as his weapon instead of a gun and Lowri liked that edge.

"Oh, come on. You enjoy the solitude in your little nest. I wouldn't wanna ruin it." Lowri replied. She picked up her cup of tea and took a long drink.

" _You're too British for us Americans._ " Clint said, he was probably smirking.

She laughed and set her tea back down on the table beside her. "I do hope you realise that if two British women hadn't helped the Americans then you wouldn't have this cosy job." Lowri replied, "So you can thank me for your job."

" _And this is where your age shows._ " Clint joked, " _Do you need any help stirring your tea, Granny?_ "

"Oh, Granny is borderline abuse." She laughed.

" _Agent Jones, Agent Barton._ " Came a serious tone, Lowri feared for a second that the tone belonged to Nick, but then she realised that it was just Phil. " _Sorry to interrupt your comical exchange but Director Fury is arriving by chopper in under five minutes, meet me on top in two minutes, Agent Jones._ "

Lowri pulled a face in the general direction of Clint and replied to Phil, "Alright, I'll see you up there." Lowri said, she headed into the midst of the chaos of the evac and searched for Doctor Selvig. Once she located him, she headed over. "Doctor Selvig." She called, she dodged a female scientist and the man in question looked up. "I'm going up top to meet Director Fury, I'll be back soon with him. Hopefully, we can get this thing under control then, or something along those lines."

Doctor Selvig merely waved his hand at her before returning to his work, Lowri guessed that today was a bit busy for everyone so she turned from him and headed for the exit. She wove her way through the scientists that were helping to pack everything away and she headed up the stairs, taking two at a time.

She reached the top and dodged the agents carrying out her evacuation order. Finally, she reached the ground level and only had to get to the roof. She brushed back her hair as she took the final set of stairs two at a time and she tugged down the sleeves of her jacket.

Lowri pushed open the doors leading to the roof and spied Phil standing just off from the helicopter landing pad. She stopped beside him and shared a look as she straightened her jacket.

"Judging from your conversation with Agent Barton, I assume that there's no change?" Phil asked, he raised an eyebrow at her and smiled when she smiled at him.

"Still the same." Lowri replied, she looked away and dropped her hands beside her. "I still think the Tesseract should have been locked away when we pulled it out of the ocean. It was bad enough that Howard had to have a go at testing it."

Phil turned his head to her, "You know, you're such a refreshing woman that sometimes I forget." Phil said honestly.

"Forget what?" Lowri asked, glancing at him.

"That you've lived for so long." Phil replied, smiling.

"Oh, you forget that I'm fast-approaching my 200th birthday?" Lowri asked, she smiled and looked away. "So, what are you getting me for my big birthday? It's not common for someone to reach their second century. You better go big or go home."

Before Phil could even open his mouth to answer, the chopper appeared and hovered in mid-air for five seconds before beginning its descent.

The door opened as soon as the chopper landed and Agent Maria Hill stepped down with a serious look on her face and behind her, was Nick. Nick immediately made a beeline for Lowri and Phil.

"How bad is it?" Nick asked immediately, his voice was almost drowned out by the roar of the propellers of the chopper and engine.

"That's the problem, sir." Phil began, he glanced at Lowri, unsure of how to continue before he looked back at Nick, "We don't know."

Nick looked at both of them seriously and then Lowri turned on her heel and led them into the base. She jogged down the stairs with the three of them following.

"Have you ever seen the Tesseract behave like this, Ri?" Nick asked as they jogged down the stairs.

They reached the main level and began heading for the stairs that would lead them down to the underground cavern housing the Tesseract.

"Never." Lowri said, she strode ahead of them, clearing a path for them. "I've seen it used as a weapon, as an energy source and now as an object to be tested on." Lowri said, she glanced behind and shot him a warning look. "You know how I felt about this project going ahead."

There was a brief moment of silence as she turned her head to look forward but then Phil spoke up.

"Doctor Selvig read an energy surge from the Tesseract four hours ago." Phil offered as they turned off from the main corridor.

"NASA didn't authorise Selvig to go to the testing phase? Did he push forward for that?" Fury asked, Phil shook his head and glanced at Lowri.

"He wasn't testing it. He wasn't even in the room. It was a spontaneous event." Phil answered quickly.

"It just turned itself on?" Maria asked sharply Lowri could hear the scepticism in her voice and she could understand it completely. The Tesseract is an impressive piece of work that is hard to work with and understand.

"Where are the energy levels at now?" Nick asked, his eye followed a pair of agents rushing past them, carrying a large box between them.

"Climbing. When Selvig couldn't shut the Tesseract down, Agent Jones ordered the evac." Phil said quietly.

"If the Tesseract spikes again and it gets higher, the base could be destroyed and that's the last thing I want." Lowri added. "It's better to be safe than sorry."

"How long will it be until everyone is out?" Nick asked, he glanced at Phil.

"Campus should be clear in the next half an hour." Phil replied.

"Do better." Nick ordered. Phil nodded his head and jogged off to lead the evacuation effort while Lowri, Maria and Nick headed down deeper into the base.

"Sir," Maria began as they headed down the first set of stairs leading down to the underground cavern. "The evacuation may be futile," Maria shot a quick look at Lowri and looked apologetic. "It's not against your judgment, Agent Jones, but if this proves to be a one-off, then we moved everything and everyone out for no reason. But, there's also the case that there might not be a safe distance."

Lowri shrugged her shoulders to show that she didn't care. Over the past few years, several directors and their second in command have tried to etch Lowri out of the organisation all together but of course, Lowri is stubborn and she physically can't die, she's the best for the job.

"I'm not risking any human life on a single chance of no safe distance." Lowri replied. "And if anyone present is unhappy with my decision, then I am more than happy to ignore their protests."

Lowri gets along with Maria Hill well enough, but sometimes their personalities and opinions clashes and causes rifts.

They reached the final set of stairs and Lowri headed down, she glanced back when she spied Nick and Maria paused at the top. Nick gestured that he'll catch up with her and Lowri headed back down the steps, ignoring the questioning feeling in her stomach.

She needed to keep her mind focused on the evac and the Tesseract.

As she reached the bottom, she paused and waited for Nick as he reached the halfway mark.

Nick caught up with her quickly and they fell into step together.

"I know you've never agreed to this project but–" Nick began but Lowri turned from him and began heading towards the cavern. "You're angry."

Lowri didn't need to look at him to see that he had a ' _not again_ ' look on his face. They've worked together for a good few years and he knows her well.

"It was one thing that Howard began messing around with the Tesseract when we first found it, but even he knew his limits and he put it in storage for good reason." Lowri said, "Now, this is getting ridiculous, all these tests have been run on it and we _still_ don't know or understand how she works."

"Don't burn me." Nick joked, he held his hands up in surrender. Lowri shot a warning look at Nick and he clamped his mouth shut.

They came out into the cavern and Lowri immediately moved back to the table where she left her tea. Nick headed over to Doctor Selvig.

"Talk to me, Doctor." Nick commanded, using long strides to reach the Doctor, who was bending down in front of the Tesseract to inspect it.

Lowri reached her cup of tea and heated her hands up the moment she felt the cold mug. She sipped at the tea as it warmed up quickly, she watched Doctor Selvig and Nick speak in low tones for a few seconds before she heard Nick ask for Clint to come down.

Clint left his nest quickly and within seconds, he was beside Nick telling him everything he's seen while up there.

All of a sudden, the entire cavern shook violently and the roof began crumbling down, the remaining tea in her cup sloshed against the sides and spilled.

Lowri felt panic take hold as the room slowly stopped shaking. As she straightened up, her eyes scanned the room for any obvious damage and immediately, she caught onto the Tesseract. The erratic behaviour it had displayed earlier that day was thrown out of the window with no regard at all. The Tesseract began glowing brighter than ever before and a long blue, slightly familiar, beam shot from the centre of the Tesseract and aimed at the platform just behind the Tesseract, a few feet away.

She ran for Nick, he was stood watching the events happening before him with a scared look. If Lowri could reach him, she could protect him.

Lowri stopped beside him and they shared a look before looking at the long blue beam with terror written in their eyes.

The blue beam seemed to be creating a large circle with blue on the edges and black in the centre. As it grew and grew, Lowri realised that they were looking into outer space. Her stomach plummeted as she realised this was a portal for something from somewhere completely unfamiliar.

The blue beam suddenly cut off and the blue seemed to melt away, but it suddenly gathered together and blew outwards, it didn't seem harmful as it passed by them but it was utterly confusing.

Everyone's eyes locked on the creature appearing to be kneeling on the platform dressed in green and holding a large shiny stick with a shining blue light at the top, the blue was the same colour as the Tesseract, it was as though the shiny stick held a piece of the Tesseract.

Silence fell around them as the creature slowly stood and Lowri realised it wasn't a creature, but a man with long black hair and a sadistic smile on his pale face.

Lowri felt her stomach twist comfortably when she saw how his eyes searched the room eagerly, almost as if he was searching for his next prey.

* * *

 **And there you have it, the first chapter for the day! The next chapter will be up soon.**

 **Thanks all for reading, I hope yo hear off some of you.**

 **Read, Review, Follow & Favourite! **


	7. Chapter 7

**Happy Saturday, Readers! Here is the second chapter of the day!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own any Marvel characters that may be used or any Marvel storylines or arcs.**

 **Claimer: I only own the character Elizabeth Jones (Lowri Jones and any other names she uses) and her story, past, present and future.**

* * *

 _Recap_

 _Everyone's eyes locked on the creature appearing to be kneeling on the platform dressed in green and holding a large shiny stick with a shining blue light at the top, the blue was the same colour as the Tesseract, it was as though the shiny stick held a piece of the Tesseract._

 _Silence fell around them as the creature slowly stood and Lowri realised it wasn't a creature, but a man with long black hair and a sadistic smile on his pale face._

 _Lowri felt her stomach twist uncomfortably when she saw how his eyes searched the room eagerly, almost as if he was searching for his next prey._

* * *

There was tense atmosphere in the room, each holding their breath as all the agents reached for their handguns as a precaution.

"Sir." Nick began, he took a small step forwards but halted before he reached the platform that the Tesseract was on. "Put down the spear." He finished. The pale-faced man looked down at his sceptre in his hand, almost as if he was confused, he looked up and his sadistic smile transformed into one of pure evil and he thrust the sceptre forward and aimed at the group of scientists gathered at the back of the cavern.

A blue shot, similar to that of the blue shot Lowri had received during the war, came out and hit the wall behind the group of scientists and the agents in the room reacted quickly with their guns.

Bullets began flying everywhere and Lowri was aware of everything going on around her, through the bullets she could see that the man on the platform had the sceptre aimed knowingly at Nick.

Lowri acted on instinct and threw herself at Nick as the blue shot travelled across and hit the space just behind where Nick had been standing.

Lowri shot to her feet but somehow, the man with the sceptre managed to divert all bullets from him and sprayed them backwards and half a dozen found their way into Lowri's stomach and she tumbled off the platform where the Tesseract was.

Her stomach ached with the bullet holes and she pressed her hand to them, lying on her back. She stared up at the ceiling and then she twisted her body so she could keep the strange man in her eyesight.

The man jumped down from the platform with light feet and headed for the nearest agent standing by, Clint Barton.

Clint reached his gun, now strapped at his side once more but the man grabbed hold of Clint's arm to stop him and he had that sadistic smile on his face again as he pressed the tip of the sceptre against Clint's chest and it was as if a blue light passed from the tip of the sceptre and straight into Clint' heart. For a second, his eyes changed to black but then faded to a bright blue, the same colour as the gem in the sceptre.

Clint slid his gun back into the holster and looked up at the man, as if he was expecting his next order.

Lowri's stomach ached horribly, and she could feel one of the bullets still inside her and it was slowly making its way out.

She spied Nick just across the platform from her, he was alright. He didn't get hit, he was packing the Tesseract away into a case. He got to his feet slowly and began to walk away.

Lowri rolled back onto her back and grimaced uncomfortably as the bullet shifted in her stomach again.

"Please, don't." The man said, his voice sliced through the silence in the cavern, Lowri rolled onto her side once more, her hand cupping her stomach. He looked pale and sweat dripped off his face, "I still have need of that."

Nick froze where he stood but he didn't turn back to face the man. At this point, Lowri heaved herself up to her feet, she used the end of a desk to hoist herself up, her hand still clutched to her stomach, blood dripping through her fingers.

"This doesn't have to get any messier." Nick said slowly.

"Of course, it does." The man said as this situation was the simplest thing in the world. "I've come too far for anything else." The man continued, he stepped forwards and Nick turned slowly. "I am Loki," The man breathed out, he bent his head slightly, "Of Asgard. And I am burdened with glorious purpose."

 _Asgard._ The name rang through Lowri's mind. Asgard is out of this world and it brought Lowri's mind to another event that happened a little while ago involving an Asgardian prince named Thor, he's a Demi-God, is this strange man related to him?

"Loki!" Doctor Selvig exclaimed, Loki turned to him and narrowed his eyes. "Brother of Thor."

Loki's eyes spoke of scorn. Obviously, there was some tension going on between the brothers. Lowri scrutinised him, he and Thor were as different as chalk as cheese.

"We have no quarrel with your people." Nick said carefully.

"An ant has no quarrel with a boot." Loki replied simply, he gestured with his sceptre as Lowri leant against the desk and pulled her hand away from her stomach. The bullet was working its way back through her stomach and she was still bleeding.

"Are you planning to step on us?" Nick asked, he dropped his tone and took a small step towards Loki.

Lowri kept her mouth shut, she was never that good at talking people down. That's more of Nick's expertise.

"I come with glad tidings of a world made free." Loki answered, his sadistic smile grew and he looked far too happy about whatever he had planned.

"Free from what?" Nick asked hotly, judging by his tone, Lowri got the impression that he was keeping the conversation going because he was killing time.

"Freedom." Loki answered, he spread his arms and stepped forward. "Freedom is life's great lie. Once you accept that, in your heart," He continued, he raised his sceptre and in one fluid movement, he stepped closer to Doctor Selvig and pressed the tip of the sceptre to his heart, "You will know peace." Loki said, he smiled as Doctor Selvig fell under his control.

"Peace?" Lowri asked, speaking for the first time. She pushed herself off from the table and stumbled towards him. She reached for another desk and leant on it heavily with one of her hands still pressed against her bleeding stomach. Her entire right-hand side of her torso screamed in pain at her but she ignored it. "Do you even know what peace is?" She asked, tilting her head at him.

"Do you?" Loki asked simply. Lowri scowled at him and this seemed to entertain him further.

"More than you think." Lowri replied. She stepped away from the desk, her strength began to come back to her and she could hold herself upright, she still held her hand to her stomach. "I have tried my best to keep the peace intact in this world for a very long time." Lowri said, as she spoke, the bullet finally found its way out of her stomach and it fell into her hand covered in blood.

Lowri smiled as she held the bloody bullet up to look at it.

"I, for one, am tired of war and I am tired of men assuming that they can rule the world because they have 'greater gifts'." Lowri said, she locked eyes with Loki as she tossed the blood covered bullet away.

Loki moved swiftly, he took the two steps between them and pressed the sceptre against her chest before she could move away. The tip of the sceptre rested just above her heart and for a terrifying moment she thought she was going to fall under his control but nothing happened.

Loki looked down at the sceptre, his eyes narrowed as he stepped back and looked at it with a confused look on his face.

"Don't try that again." Lowri said in a low, dangerous tone. "You won't like what comes next."

Loki watched her curiously and then snapped his attention to Clint, who began speaking as he walked closer.

"Sir, Director Fury and Agent Jones are stalling. This place is about to blow and drop a hundred feet of rock on us. They mean to bury us." Clint said. His voice seemed so unrecognisable, it was monotone. And his eyes that were once friendly, now seemed blank and empty.

"Like the pharaohs of old." Nick said with a smirk as he spread one of his hands out calmly. Doctor Selvig, with his startling blue eyes, moved to one of the monitoring computers and looked at it intently.

"He's right." Doctor Selvig added, "The portal is closing in on itself. We've got maybe two minutes before this goes critical."

"Well then," Loki said, he looked from Clint and in one swift movement, Clint pulled out his handgun and shot Nick dead in the chest and Lowri just under her ribcage. Lowri was thrown backwards with that familiar aching pain just under her ribs and blood poured from her again.

She cussed as she hit the floor and rolled into the foetal position, "God damn it!" She yelled, she hurried sat up and spied Loki making his exit with Clint, Doctor Selvig and several other agents and scientists under Loki's control, with the case holding the Tesseract.

Lowri dragged herself over to Nick and she with relief when she saw him jerk open his coat and shirt to reveal a bulletproof vest with the bullet just above his heart.

"I guess my party trick is better than yours." Nick said with a forced laugh. "Hurts like a bitch, though." Nick slowly sat up and rubbed at his chest, "Hill, do you copy?" Nick asked, he let out a cough as he pulled the bullet from the vest. "Barton has been compromised."

Lowri offered her hand for Nick to grab hold and she helped him up.

"We need to get out of here, I'm sure one of those minutes has already passed." Lowri said, they immediately began heading for the exit. Lowri grabbed his arm and pulled him with her but Nick pulled his arm from her grip and pushed her forward.

"Go, help Hill. Use your goddamn fire if you have to." Nick insisted. "Stop Barton."

Lowri grimly nodded her head, "Will you be alright?" She asked, showing him genuine concern but her pause only angered him.

"Go!" Nick yelled, he shoved her away from him and Lowri stumbled before she caught her balance and ran as fast as she could down the hallway, she bolted down to the loading bays and the tunnels leading out, her chest screamed at her and she was breathing hard, her lungs ached with the lack of oxygen but she knew that time was running out.

She neared the loading bays and found it to be completely empty. She looked up and down and then took a running jump and called her fire to her.

Lowri's fire roared into life and spread outwards from her chest, engulfing her immediately in the curling flames.

There was traces of destruction along the roads leading to the exit and she could hear the engines of two cars working hard. She caught up with Maria near to the exit, she dimmed her fire as she neared and extinguished her fire completely when she slid into the passenger seat.

"Nice of you to join us!" Maria yelled. Lowri shot her a good-humoured smile and gripped onto the handle on the side of the truck.

"Got a little side-tracked back there!" Lowri yelled back, she braced as Hill sped up after the truck just ahead of them.

The ceiling above them cracked suddenly, and it began crumbling above them. "Can you go any faster?" Lowri yelled.

Maria pressed down on the accelerator but it wasn't fast enough. The earth above them came tumbling down and huge pieces of rock rained down on them.

Maria applied the brakes heavily and the back end of the truck was hit by a huge piece of rock and it went into a spin.

Rock began crashing down in front of them and the truck crashed into rock, dust was spewed up and everything was dark and shaking.

"Maria, you alright?" Lowri asked as the truck settled back, there was a small gap in the roof of the truck and rock had fallen through.

Lowri couldn't see the rock between them and she couldn't see Maria either, nor could she hear her.

"I'll live." Hill replied, Lowri heard a shift in the rocks and then she gingerly moved too. She managed to free her hands and she lit her hands-on fire, illuminating just how far they were underground.

"Your head." Lowri said, Maria had a cut on her forehead, not a huge one, but it probably hurt and blood was present.

"You're bleeding too." Maria said.

Lowri dismissed that, "Look, there's a gap through there. You get through, I'm going to see if I can get back through." Lowri said.

"Why?" Maria asked as she began to shovel the rock from her gingerly.

"There was some people left in the loading bays, I think. And there was a turn off just up the road back there, I'm going to check to see if everyone got out." Lowri said. She managed to wriggle out of the truck and she sat on the door.

" _Director?_ " their earpieces buzzed into action once more and Lowri's mind was taken back to Nick. Had he been able to get out in time? " _Director Fury, do you copy_?" Phil asked more urgently.

There was a terrible cracking sound over the earpieces and then Nick's voice came on.

" _The Tesseract is with a hostile force. I have men down._ " Nick said, Lowri exhaled as soon as she heard his voice. " _Hill, did Jones get to you?_ "

"Yeah. She's here right now. There's a lot of men still under, but I don't know how many survivors." Maria answered.

Lowri took out her earpiece and slid it into her pocket, she pulled herself from the truck and looked back at Maria.

"Maria, I'm going to start the search." Lowri said, she jumped down from the truck and began making her long journey back into the collapsed tunnel.

In no time at all, there was a team of agents working with her to aid in the rescue effort which took all night. Somehow, fires had started but Lowri could easily deal with those.

The big machines were brought in to move the fallen earth out of the way and luckily there wasn't that many people still trapped underneath, because Lowri had called the evacuation early on.

That night was long, she worked well into the early hours of the next morning before she found herself back in S. H. I. E. L. D. HQ with a cup of coffee in her hand and she stood in Nick's office, standing in front of the window, having had no sleep whatsoever.

* * *

 **Did you see my little reference to Captain America: The First Avenger?**

 **Sadly, there will be no update next week as I am away! I shall update on the 26th (once again, if I have time. I've been put into work almost everyday that week.)**

 **Read, Review, Follow & Favourite!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Happy Tuesday, Readers!**

 **First of all I have to apologise for the late update, I know I said I would update on the 26th but I've been working like almost every day and I haven't had time at all to update**

 **Also, thank you to the new followers and the new reviewers. Reading those reviews made me smile, so thank you: Featherblue17 and AppropriateLlama! Now, on with the story!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own any Marvel characters that may be use or any Marvel storylines or arcs.**

 **Claimer: I only own the character Elizabeth Jones (Lowri Jones and any other names she uses) and her story past, present and future.**

* * *

 _Recap_

 _Lowri took out her earpiece and slid it into her pocket, she pulled herself from the truck and looked back at Maria._

 _"Maria, I'm going to start the search." Lowri said, she jumped down from the truck and began making her long journey back into the collapsed tunnel._

 _In no time at all, there was a team of agents working with her to aid in the rescue effort which took all night. Somehow, fires had started but Lowri could easily deal with those._

 _The big machines were brought in to move the fallen earth out of the way and luckily there wasn't that many people still trapped underneath because Lowri had called the evacuation early on._

 _That night was long, she worked well into the early hours of the next morning before she found herself back in S. H. I. E. L. D. HQ with a cup of coffee in her hand and she stood in Nick's office, standing in front of the window, having had no sleep whatsoever._

* * *

Phil was sitting comfortably on the couch just across from Nick with Maria beside him, all three organising the launch of the helicarrier. Once Maria stood up to finalise the details and left, Nick looked over at Lowri.

Lowri saw the look through the window and her stomach churned with anticipation. She clutched the cup of coffee tighter in her hand and shifted her weight from one leg to the other.

She knew what was coming.

"I want to initiate the Avengers Initiative." Nick said carefully. Lowri turned from the windows to look at him. "Or, something as close to it as we can." Phil looked at Nick too, "Loki can't be stopped with bullets, we've seen that. We need something bigger." Nick looked over at Lowri, "Are you in?"

"Yes." Lowri said, the memories of the night before were still fresh in her memories as she took three steps towards the table with the plans, she had changed into some fresh clothes early that morning but that had not got rid of the dirty rubble feeling on her skin. "He ruined my tea."

Phil let out an uncontrollable laugh and then sobered up when he saw Nick narrow his eye at him.

"So, you want in because he ruined your tea, not because he's threatened to disrupt the world's peace?" Phil asked.

Lowri shrugged her shoulders and moved to sit beside Phil, still sipping her coffee.

"Agent Coulson, I want you to get hold of Agent Romanoff and inform her she's going to approach Doctor Banner. The Tesseract emits small traces of gamma radiation and since he's the expert, I want him brought in." Nick said, he slid over a file on his desk. "And you're to get in touch with Mr Stark. Do whatever you can to get hold of him, breach his security if you have to." He slid another file over. "Take these."

"Sir." Phil replied, he got to his feet, crossed to Nick's desk and picked up the files. "Agent Romanoff is still on her mission with the Russians. Shall I call her off?"

"Yes. This takes priority." Nick said.

"Sir." Phil said again and then he left the office.

"You and I need to talk about an old friend of yours." Nick said slowly. Lowri looked back over at him with a determined look. "Shall we invite him onto the team?"

"That's up to him." Lowri said, "Ask him and see what he says, but he'll probably want in. Steve's used to fighting, that's what he believes he was put onto the earth for." Lowri added.

"I want you to go to him. Explain what happened and about the mission coming up." Nick said.

Immediately, Lowri shook her head in silent disagreement. She simply couldn't walk up to Steve and talk to him the way Nick wants her too.

"No. Ever since he woke up, I haven't been to see him again. I can't." Lowri said quickly.

"You need to speak to him again." Nick said, "It's not fair on the poor man."

"It's not fair on me either." Lowri snapped, "I was happy mourning for him. Maybe I was finally coming around to him being gone."

"But now he's back." Nick said slowly, "You two need to have another sit down, without whisky, and talk things over."

"Yeah well, not now." Lowri said. She looked away from Nick, "There's too much going on right now for us to worry about something like that, we just have to get over it."

Nick leant back in his chair, not letting his eyes leave her. He was thinking of another way around it.

"I'll talk to him and I'll bring him on board with the mission." Nick said slowly.

Lowri nodded her head in agreement and she sat up straighter.

"Good. I'm going to go home and rest, I'm exhausted." She said, she stood up quickly. "I know you want me to speak with him, Nick, but it's so hard to even think that he's alive." Lowri said.

She left his office and headed up to her own to grab her things, then she headed down to the reception and left the building.

Her DC flat is about a twenty-minute walk away from the Triskelion and normally, she'd drive. But because everything was happening so quickly, it was clogging her mind so the walk really helped by clearing her mind, giving her time to think it all over.

Two days after the base in the Mojave Desert fell, one of the helicarriers was launched into the sea and on it was members of S. H. I. E. L. D. Those who had been invited to become part of the Avengers Initiative was making their way on board in dribs and drabs.

Lowri was already on board, overseeing the cargo below as a simple job to keep her mind occupied away from the impending task she had to complete.

"You can store those boxes on top of the bottled water, just make sure you tie them down." Lowri said, she checked the boxes of sterile gloves off the list and looked up before consulting her extensive list again.

There were some odd things on the list but they weren't too sure how long they'd be in the air for.

"Ma'am, what about those containers?" an agent asked, pointing to a large pile of clear containers holding medical supplies.

"Strap them down and leave them there." Lowri replied.

While Lowri was completing her task, Agent Hill took charge of the lower deck, leading the launch.

"All engines operating." Agent Hill began, she paced back and fore with her eyes catching on everything the agents around her on the computers did. "S. H. I. E. L. D. Emergency protocol 193.6 in effect, we are level, sir." Agent Hill reported, turning to Director Fury, stood in his circle of monitors.

"Good. Let's vanish." Director Fury replied, he nodded once at Agent Hill before turning from the beautiful view of the blue sky and turned to face the two men that had just entered the bridge and was looking around curiously.

"Engage retro-reflection panels." Agent Hill ordered, placing her hands on her hips and strode down the path once more.

"Gentlemen." Director Fury said to the two men who had a nervous mood about them both. He approached the blonde-haired man first, the newly awoke Super Soldier.

As he approached, Steve pulled a wad of crumpled notes out of his pants and offered Director Fury a ten dollar note, Director Fury took the note and smiled. Steve wordlessly looked around him, taking in every bit of this new technology filled world.

"Doctor, thank you for coming." Director Fury said as he turned to welcome Doctor Banner.

"Thanks for asking nicely." Doctor Banner said, he had a nervous look about him but he shook Director Fury's hand. "So, uh, how long am I staying?"

"Once we get our hands on the Tesseract, you're in the wind." Director Fury replied swiftly.

"Where are you with that?" Doctor Banner asked, he looked at Director Fury but he was redirected to Agent Coulson, who was more than eager to answer.

"We're sweeping every wirelessly accessible camera on the planet. Cell phones, laptops. If it's connected to a satellite, it's eyes and ears for us." Agent Coulson said.

"That's still not gonna find them in time." Agent Romanoff added. She was crouched low and was looking at one of the computers, detailing information on Agent Clint Barton.

"You have to narrow your field. How many spectrometers do you have access to?" Doctor Banner asked as he stripped off his jacket.

"How many are there?" Director Fury asked quickly.

"Call every lab you know. Tell them to put the spectrometers on the roof and to calibrate them for gamma rays." Doctor Banner instructed as he looked from Director Fury to Agent Coulson. "I'll rough out a tracking algorithm, basic cluster recognition. At least we could rule out a few places. Do you have somewhere for me to work?" Doctor Banner asked.

"Agent Romanoff, could you show Doctor Banner to his laboratory, please?" Director Fury asked, he turned to her and she smiled.

Agent Romanoff shot him a knowing look as she walked past him. "You're gonna love it, Doc. We've got all the toys." She added as she led Doctor Banner out of the room.

* * *

"This is Agent Jones, normally she's a bit more welcoming but recently she's been distracted." Came a familiar voice.

Lowri stopped in her tracks and looked up from the tablet in her hands, she spied Nat standing in front of her with Doctor Bruce Banner standing just beside Nat.

"Hi, again." Doctor Banner said, he narrowed his eyes at her and she smiled.

"We've met before, Nat, a few years back in Harlem." Lowri said, she smiled knowingly at Doctor Banner. "It's good to see you again, I'm glad that you've kept out of trouble."

"I agree." Doctor Banner said, smiling warmly at her.

Nat led Doctor Banner away but before she did, she gave Lowri a knowing look.

Lowri continued on into the bridge and headed for Nick straight away, she passed over the tablet.

"Everything is locked down there, but, don't shoot me if a box of animal crackers escaped. I think one of the agents decided to hide it so he can have snacks at night." Lowri said as she passed over the tablet.

"Well, we can't hunt him down for that." Nick said after he glanced at the list. He put the tablet down on the table and looked up. "We've got that simulation room set up for you too, you know I don't like it when you set fire to my helicarrier."

"Your helicarrier?" Lowri asked teasingly. "Alright, thanks. I might go test it now, there's not a lot else we can do while we wait."

"You've still got those reports to go through." Nick reminded her, Lowri waved them off and shrugged her shoulders, she reached for the tablet and scanned through her to-do list of numerous reports.

"They're non-priority." Lowri replied, her eyes read the screen less than eagerly and she inwardly groaned at the amount of them.

"And you've got those transfer reports to finalise." Nick added. Lowri pulled a face at his words.

"They're also non-priority." Lowri said, "Anything that is nothing to do with this guy with a fish fork is non-priority."

"Fine. I'm pretty sure that someone has to deal with the clean-up of the base." Nick added, he smirked knowingly.

"Well, I think I'll leave that one to you, Nick." Lowri said, she looked up from the tablet and smiled. "I'm the one that started the search and pulled a dozen agents from under the rubble, I deserve a little rest."

"You had your coffee." Nick replied.

Lowri rolled her eyes at Nick and looked up at the ceiling of the bridge with a sigh. Her back was beginning to ache, a sign that she needed a long rest.

"Coffee is not enough to recover from something like that." Lowri laughed, she picked up the tablet and scrolled through the reports she had to go through.

"To recover from what?" Steve asked as he neared Nick and Lowri. Both looked up at him quickly. Lowri felt slightly startled at his sudden appearance, she had forgotten how stealthy he can be.

Lowri dropped her gaze back down to her tablet quickly and she continued scrolling, this is the first time they've seen each other since she gave him her necklace and for some unknown reason, she felt nervous around him.

"From digging underground to rescue agents." Nick said, looking up at Steve. "Lowri here, she spent the entire night about two days ago leading a search mission when one of our bases collapsed."

Lowri looked up and felt hotness in her cheeks when she saw that Steve was looking at her.

"Ah, it was nothing." Lowri said, she shut down the tablet and looked up properly. "It was either go home and rest while someone else did it, or I could do it myself." Steve looked at her, as if he admired her. Lowri had really missed that look. "Anyway, I'm gonna go test that simulation room out, see if it's up to my standards." Lowri stepped off and headed for the exit.

"Don't set my helicarrier on fire." Nick called after her.

Lowri turned as she walked and grinned, "Pretty sure you wouldn't have this helicarrier if it wasn't for me." She remarked, Lowri pause and she looked at Steve. "Do you want to come watch? I mean, it was pretty hard to explain but once you see it, it'll be better."

Steve shared a glance with Nick and then looked back at Lowri and nodded his head.

"Well, it's this way." Lowri said, smiling as she jerked her head towards the exit. She turned and walked away, hearing Steve's footsteps behind her.

He quickly caught up and fell into step with her. "So, what's this simulation room?" Steve asked.

"It's a large room set up to mimic different situations, mostly used for training new agents still green in the field. This is designed to do a little more than the usual stuff, it's been modified to accommodate my skillset." Lowri explained as they walked.

"Your skillset?" Steve asked.

"Didn't you hear what Nick called out?" Lowri asked with a knowing smile. "'Don't set my helicarrier on fire'?" Steve nodded his head slowly, "That room allows me to practise using my fire."

"Oh." Steve said slowly. He looked away, as if he was still finding it awkward to know all this.

"It's okay, Steve." Lowri said, she looked away from him and spied the door that hid the simulation room at the end of the hallway. "I know it's hard to adjust to all this, and finding out about me is probably throwing you off."

"Just a little bit." Steve said with a chuckle. "And of course, hunting something that is this dangerous just adds to it all."

Lowri paused as they reached the end of the hallway.

"I wanted to keep you from this to start off with, it hasn't been that long since you woke up, but then I figured that you'd want to be involved."

Steve nodded his head, "Anything to keep me busy, I'm happy to do." Steve said.

Lowri smiled as she pushed open the door and stepped in. Inside was all darkness until Lowri switched the lights on and revealed the small booth which held all the controls for the simulation room, just through a door to their left.

She stepped further into the room and began pressing buttons on the control panel in front of the windows looking into the simulation room.

"This looks very complicated." Steve remarked as he stepped into the room and turned his attention to her.

"It can be, but while I'm in there, you don't need to do anything." Lowri said, "I'm just setting the controls and making sure everything is working. There's controls in the room too, but these are the mains." She explained.

She leant back from the panel and pressed one of the buttons and the entire room lit up. The simulation room spanned two floors and it went back a fair bit, giving plenty of space to work.

Lowri stripped off her jacket and hung it on the back of the chair and then pressed the button beside the door to open it.

"Stay out here and you can watch." Lowri said, she turned to the door and placed her hand on the handle, she turned back. "I'm sorry I've been distant since you woke up, I would make up a really bad excuse." Lowri said, she looked up at him, "But I just can't seem to lie to you."

She pulled the door open and stepped in hastily, her cheeks burning.

Why does she feel so awkward around him?

Lowri shook off the feeling and stepped into the centre of the room and then focused on bringing her fire forward.

For an hour, Lowri let the fire go and pushed her boundaries. The room was an excellent way to let loose of anger or any bad emotions and to practise. Sure, pretty much everyone knew that she could create and control fire, but it didn't give her a safe place to practise.

Steve sat in the booth, watching her the entire time. Lowri tried not to let that nag at her mind, she tried to focus only on herself and it kind of worked. He looked at her with amazement in his eyes as she exited the simulation room.

"That was…" Steve trailed off. He fell into silence and Lowri crossed to the control panel and she shut down the simulation room. "Who else knew about you?"

Lowri stopped pressing buttons and slowly turned to him.

"I didn't want to tell anyone but there came about situations that I couldn't control. Peggy knew and so did Chester Phillips. Howard Stark knew after I interrogated a man, the Howling Commandos knew as soon as I joined them in the field." Lowri explained.

"You went out into the field?" Steve asked, he glanced down at the floor, smiling coyly. Lowri narrowed her eyes at him and smiled curiously at him.

"What is it?" Lowri asked, leaning forward slightly.

"I was right." Steve said firmly. He stood up and stepped closer to her, towering over her with his height. "You were wasted in that office and you finally realised it."

Lowri shifted her weight from one foot to the other and smiled up at him.

"I realised that when I helped fight in the Alps. And I'm pretty sure Chester realised that too." Lowri glanced down at the floor, "When you went down into the water, I asked to help with the 107th with the rest of the Hydra bases."

"There were more?" Steve asked.

"Yes. But they weren't bases that you took down, they were smaller ones, communication branches and storage units mostly. None of them were heavily guarded but Chester allowed me to go. He agreed that my skills were too good to be wasted." Lowri confirmed.

Steve had a knowing smile on his face and he stepped back. "I'm glad you finally saw what I saw."

Lowri nodded her head and turned back to the control panel.

" _Agent Romanoff, Agent Jones. We've got a hit on Loki in Germany. Co-ordinates are being sent through now. Get a jet up in the air. The Captain is going with you._ " Nick's voice rang out in Lowri's ear piece and she looked up.

"What is it?" Steve asked, his voice laced with concern.

"We've got a hit on Loki." Lowri said, turning to him and smiling. Lowri pressed her finger to her earpiece. " _Wheels up in ten._ " She replied.

* * *

 **Again, I deeply apologise for the massive gap between the updates... It's been so crazy and busy. There's been work and then there's been snow... At least it's spring now!**

 **Thanks to all my lovely readers, hope you all enjoy.**

 **Read, Review, Follow & Favourite!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Happy Tuesday, my lovely readers!**

 **I've made the decision to change my update days from Mondays to Tuesdays as I now work Mondays *insert sad face*. It sucks, but I guess this is the only way to get money... funny how that works, right?**

 **Big thank you to all those who have followed and favorited the last chapter, it means a lot guys.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own any Marvel characters that may be used or any Marvel storylines or arcs.**

 **Claimer: I only own the character Elizabeth Jones (Lowri Jones and any other names she uses) and her story past, present and future.**

* * *

 _Recap_

 _"There were more?" Steve asked._

 _"Yes. But they weren't bases that you took down, they were smaller ones, communication branches and storage units mostly. None of them were heavily guarded but Chester allowed me to go. He agreed that my skills were too good to be wasted." Lowri confirmed._

 _Steve had a knowing smile on his face and he stepped back. "I'm glad you finally saw what I saw."_

 _Lowri nodded her head and turned back to the control panel._

"Agent Romanoff, Agents Jones. We've got a hit on Loki in Germany. Co-ordinates are being sent through now. Get a jet up in the air. The Captain is going with you. _" Nick's voice ran out in Lowri's ear piece and she looked up._

 _"What is it?" Steve asked, his voice laced with concern._

 _"We've got a hit on Loki." Lowri said, turning to him and smiling. Lowri pressed her finger to her ear piece. "_ Wheels up in ten. _" She replied._

* * *

Lowri quickly shut everything down and then the door opened, Phil Coulson stood in the doorway, grinning.

"Captain, if you'll come with me, I'll show you to where your uniform is kept." Phil said with a smile, he looked from Lowri to Steve and back to Lowri again, as if he couldn't believe he had just said that sentence.

Steve glanced at Lowri and when she nodded her head at him, he stepped off and followed Phil down the hallway, leaving Lowri alone.

She closed the door after her and headed for her room. She needed to change into some of her combat gear as her current choice of clothing wasn't exactly practical for fighting aliens.

Lowri dressed in a pair of black tight-fitting trousers and a matching jacket that hugged her torso with the S. H. I. E. L. D. logo on the left arm. She strapped the holsters to her thighs and slid her guns in, her hair was tied back in a plait and twisted at the nape of her neck, ready for the headset in the quin jet.

Before Lowri left the room, she took a few seconds to look over herself in the mirror on the wall of her room. As soon as she saw her neck, she felt her stomach drop with realisation. The necklace from Steve had always been around her neck on every single mission she had been on, what if it was some sort of good luck charm? Now with the necklace back with Steve, Lowri felt odd.

She placed a hand where the star would have hung and sighed, the necklace had been a part of her for so long and she feels naked without it. But, there's nothing she can do about it now. A mission awaits.

There was a jet waiting for them on the flight deck and Lowri immediately commandeered it. She changed several settings to her preference and then set about preparation for flight. Nat boarded the jet about thirty seconds after Lowri and made herself comfortable in the navigator's seat beside Lowri.

"And where have you been hiding all this time?" Nat asked as she strapped her things into the compartment behind their seats. The cockpit was small, but it was still easy to manoeuvre around the small space.

"Testing out the new sim room." Lowri replied as she began the pre-flight checks that should have been done already.

"And does it meet your incredibly high standards?" Nat asked as she tugged the strap holding the rucksacks in another compartment down.

"Barely." Lowri replied, she looked back at Nat and smirked knowingly. "It's good. I like it."

Finally, Lowri strapped herself into the pilot's seat as Nat brought the others on board and took her own seat. They were ready to set off, and Lowri had a rush of adrenalin soaring through her.

"Ready?" Lowri asked as Nat finally took her seat next to Lowri and strapped herself in.

"Yeah. Let's get this thing rolling." Nat replied.

Lowri glanced down the back of the jet and she saw the very familiar uniform of red, white and blue and she snapped her eyes forward. She knew Steve was coming with them, she knew that he would be wearing his old uniform, but seeing him in it brings back so many memories.

She slid her headset on and activated the communication link. Lowri asked for clearance from the Control Tower and once clearance was given, Lowri activated the vertical take off and took off.

"Oh, look at that." Lowri said, her eyes caught on the time. "Two minutes early." Nat rolled her eyes at Lowri, but she smiled.

They took off and shot off in the direction of Germany. The journey to Germany was fast and easy, thanks to Lowri's vast experience at flying and the S. H. I. E. L. D. jet, which is pretty powerful, and pretty soon, they were in the air over Germany. Lowri hovered the jet over a street when they had word that Loki had left the building he had been occupying and was now creating havoc on the streets.

Lowri touched down on a street just across from the square where Loki was and allowed Steve off. She got back into the air quickly and turned so they could see what was happening.

Hundreds of people, some in normal clothing and some in elegant dresses and smart suits were all in the square, and in front of them all was one man, he wore dress clothes but then as he walked towards the square, his clothes transformed into Asgardian battle gear and then he multiplied himself to stand in a large circle, surrounding the people in the square.

Then, everyone in the square got to their knees to kneel. Steve was jogging quickly towards the square but when he saw them all kneeling, he picked up the pace.

An elderly man got to his feet and he seemed to deny Loki.

"I really wanna hear what they're saying." Lowri remarked as they watched as Loki aimed his sceptre to shoot another one of those blue shots at the elderly man but Steve jumped in and used his shield to deflect the shot.

"What's the beef between you and Rogers?" Nat asked, Lowri shot her a look.

"Now isn't really the time to be asking that, Nat." Lowri replied, she looked back at the stand-off Steve and Loki were having.

"Well, for old-time lovers, you're not showing much love." Nat remarked, her eyes scanned the scene below. "Oh, it's our moment." Nat grinned. She pressed a few buttons and spoke into the speaker. " _Loki, drop the weapon and stand down._ " Nat said, her voice was amplified through the loud speaker that played below.

Nat pressed another button and the big guns came down from storage, loaded themselves with a round and Nat aimed them at Loki.

Loki merely smiled and aimed his sceptre at the jet. Lowri thanked her fast reactions when she jerked the jet out of the way, she straightened up as Steve threw himself at Loki. She almost growled when she saw Steve do that.

"Take control." Lowri ordered, she took her hands off the control column and yanked off her headset. She left the cockpit, grabbed an earpiece and shoved it in.

Nat quickly took hold of the control column in front of her and looked up at Lowri.

"Where are you going now?" Nat asked.

"Down there. Steve's no match for a god." Lowri replied.

"Neither are you." Nat pointed out.

Lowri shrugged her shoulders, "Let's see if a god is fire resistant." Lowri said with a smile. "Turn her around." Lowri called as she headed for the very back of the jet and opened it up.

" _You're bloody mad_." Nat remarked over comms.

Lowri grinned to herself as Nat turned the jet so Lowri could see the fight going on beneath her. Loki had just managed to get Steve onto his knees in front of him and he was pressing down on the back of Steve's head with the bottom of the sceptre.

Lowri took a running jump from the jet and threw herself from the jet. She hit the crisp night air and she called her fire to her as she began falling quickly.

Immediately, Lowri went into a dive. She could see what was going on beneath her, Steve had gotten out from underneath the sceptre and they were fighting with fists again. While Loki had all of his attention on Steve, Lowri flew directly for him, she cut out her fire completely and heated up her hands.

She dove right onto Loki and grabbed onto his face and neck, burning the flesh she touched and pulled him with her as she twisted and fell to floor.

Lowri rolled away from him and was on her feet in a shot, facing him with her hands cooled, he got to his feet quickly but most of his attention was on the burns now decorating the side of his face and his neck, giving Steve time to get his bearings and giving time for Lowri to attack.

She swept his feet from underneath him but he reacted faster than she could have thought possible, Loki was on his feet in milliseconds and for a moment, she was frozen under his harsh glare. With a roar, he swung out at her and landed a hard blow to her stomach, sending her flying away from him.

Lowri landed on her back and rolled away swiftly, half expecting Loki to be on her in seconds but he wasn't. As Lowri straightened up, she saw that Steve had taken Loki on again instead of letting Loki going after Lowri. After another quick fight, Steve was thrown away and Loki used his sceptre to shoot the blue shots.

She quickly scrambled to her feet, feeling breathless, she scanned the space in front of her and she saw Steve but then she had to dive to the side as Loki aimed the sceptre at her and a blue shot hit.

Where Lowri had just stood, the blue shot shattered the concrete. Lowri straightened up and rubbed at her face, but as she straightened up, Loki shot at her again and this time, she was too slow.

The shot caught her right in the stomach and the impact caused to the fly backwards. She hit the concrete fountain, which was about ten feet away, with considerable force.

She let out an involuntary cry of pain as she hit the concrete hard, her head ached with a dull pain from hitting her head and there was pain spreading from her shoulders down to her lower back but her stomach hurt the most.

Lowri fell to the floor, oblivious of her surroundings as she focused on her stomach, she landed on her hands and knees and gingerly pressed a hand to her stomach, she pulled her hand away and saw the blood.

The fabric covering her stomach had burnt away, leaving burns and blood on her stomach. The pain was bad but she's had worse.

Loki was upon her in seconds and her stomach exploded with even more pain as he booted her in the stomach, hard. She felt all breath leave her body as she rolled away from him, she fell clear of the concrete fountain but her body ached as she landed.

Just as Lowri stopped rolling, Loki was beside her and he reached down. One hand went around her throat and she was lifted into the air with just that one hand, squeezing tightly on her throat.

Black spots clouded her vision when the oxygen levels were cut off, she knew she was in trouble. Pain was everywhere in her body and it surrounded her like a blanket.

Lowri let out a desperate gasp as her airways closed up, her legs flailed as she struggled to find any ground, her hands scrabbled at his to release his hold on her but he's got God-like strength and she had no hope.

She could feel everything slipping away from her, her strength, her wit, her grasp on life and then her mind went to Steve, where was he? Was he hurt?

Lowri's eyes locked onto Loki's and all she could see was the crazy look in his eyes, he grinned and she realised that he was actually enjoying himself.

She was at the point of passing out, she had no oxygen, she had nothing. Could this be the way she leaves this world? Can she die from oxygen starvation? How could she recover? The world was spinning out of her control.

Loki slightly lowered her so he could look into her eyes as she was nearing the brink, he probably wanted to watch the life leave her eyes.

"Some shield you are." Loki spat. He tightened his grip on her and Lowri gasped out what felt like her final breath.

Lowri dropped her hands from her neck and concentrated all of her remaining strength into her hands to summon the fire. Once her hands were hot enough and were beginning to smoke, she reached up with both hands and grasped his hand tightly and she felt his flesh burn.

Loki let out a horrible cry and yanked his injured hand back but instead of letting her fall to the floor, he drew back his uninjured hand and punched her hard in the stomach one more time, right where she had already been hit and kicked, Lowri was sent flying backwards again but this time, she couldn't find the strength to get back up and fight again.

Lowri hit the ground and rolled until she eventually stopped on her back, every part of her body ached but the worst was her stomach, which seemed to be pumping out blood by the gallon. Her throat burned with each breath she took, her arms hurt from where she landed and she couldn't help but feel all the pain.

She had pounding in her ears and her chest ached, she heaved when she breathed, the noise in her ears were too loud for her to hear anything, but she dimly heard the loud music emitting through the air around her. Bright lights flashed across her eyes and it was painful to her, she closed her eyes and clutched at her chest, wishing for the squeezing feeling to leave.

Vaguely, she heard someone call her name and then all of a sudden, someone was beside her with gentle hands, one her shoulder.

Whoever was beside her, spoke softly, but too soft because Lowri couldn't hear them. The thudding in her ears was too much.

Lowri was pulled into someone's arms and she was lifted into the air easily, as if she weighed nothing more than a sack of feathers. Her head spun as she was moved quickly and she fumbled for something to hold onto.

Whoever held her, had her in a strong grip and he tightened his arms when Lowri shifted. She pressed closer to the chest that was covered in red, white and blue.

By the time the jet had landed and they were moving towards it, Lowri's breathing was almost back to normal, but her throat was sore and so was her stomach, she had stopped bleeding but the wound was open. Her head and back ached, everything hurt her but the pain was receding slowly.

They all got back onto the jet with Nat still in the cockpit, but she turned and watched everyone get on.

Steve sat Lowri down on the floor as close as he could get her to the cockpit and knelt down in front of her, blocking her view of Loki, sitting opposite her and on the other end of the jet and he blocked Loki's view of her.

Lowri's eyesight was much clearer now and she couldn't tear her eyes away from the crazy man.

"Elizabeth," Steve said gently, he tried to get her attention on him but she was determined to see Loki in his defeated state, yet this looked like an act to her. "Look at me, Elizabeth." Steve ordered. Upon hearing the commanding tone, Lowri snapped her eyes to him and focused only on Steve.

Her lungs were much happier now that she had access to air again and her breathing seemed soother yet she still laboured to breathe slightly, her throat was very sore but she was glad that her stomach didn't hurt so much anymore.

Lowri's eyes locked onto Steve's beautiful blue eyes and she immediately saw the concern in his eyes. The longer she looked into his eyes, the deeper she fell.

Suddenly, she blinked and it was as though she was brought back to another world. She felt a blush creep up onto her cheeks as she realised how close they were and how she had been staring shamelessly.

"Uh." She mumbled as she dropped her eyes, she spied her stomach and froze at the bloody mess. "Shit." She looked back up at Steve, who was now watching her with a slightly amused look. "Can you pass me the first aid kit?" She asked quietly in a hoarse voice.

It hurt to talk, but she tried not to show it.

She pressed her hand to her stomach, wincing as pain shot outwards from her stomach and she brought her hand away, sighing when she saw the blood, fresh blood. The wound had reopened instead of healing.

Steve turned away from Lowri with a confused look on his face but Nat rescued him and threw a bright green box from the cockpit to him and he presented it to Lowri.

"Thank you." She said quietly as she took the box. She placed the kit on the floor and opened it up, she looked for a large dressing pad to press to her stomach, her hands shook as she searched through the bag but she didn't acknowledge them. She came up with a few and ripped open one of the packets. Quickly, she pressed the dressing pad to her stomach and then looked for a rolled-up fabric bandage.

She found one and passed it to Steve.

"Can you open it up please?" She asked, Steve quickly took the packet and opened it, he unrolled the end and offered it to her. She placed the end in the centre of her stomach. "Can you hold it there?" She asked him. While Steve held the one end down, Lowri swiftly moved to wrap the bandage around her body and then she wrapped another one to keep them both in place.

"Thanks." She said with a small sigh. Steve closed the box up and put it to the side but he didn't move from in front of her. "Do you remember when I told you that I have a fast healing rate?" She asked quietly, her voice was straining.

Steve nodded his head slowly, his eyes stayed trained on her.

"I'll heal in the next few hours. I'll have some bruises, they can last for a few days but I'll have scarring. Do you remember when we met in the tunnels? I was shot with one of the Hydra weapons, I still have the scars now." Lowri explained, Steve nodded his head slowly and he never took his eyes from her.

Nat got the jet into the air as Lowri patched herself up, desperate to get rid of Loki and put him in a safe place. Lowri felt much better, knowing that they were on their way back to the helicarrier. The pounding that had begun at the back of her head had now gone and her eyesight was clearer once more.

As she looked around the cabin, Lowri saw Tony Stark, the son of Howard and Maria Stark, leaning against the side of het jet, just by the door, watching her and Steve with an amused smile on his face. Tony is a cocky man with an air of arrogance surrounding him.

When Tony saw that Lowri was looking at him, he smirked. A few years ago, Lowri had gone undercover as a shadow agent to keep an eye on him when he went through turbulent years during the beginning of his Iron Man days. He didn't have a clue of who she was and what she was to him then.

Now he knows who she is and he's slightly pissed off at it. Howard Stark had been a close friend of hers since the war and when Tony had been born, Lowri was appointed his god mother. Now, Tony is pissed off mostly because his god mother looks younger than him, but fact that he hadn't known about her just passed over him.

Lowri reached behind for the bench and used it to push herself up, her other hand was pressed to her stomach and pain shot outwards. Steve rose to his feet with her, he cupped her elbow and looked down at her.

"What are you doing?" Steve asked quickly, Lowri sat on the bench and breathed out, she looked up at him and raised an eyebrow. His expression was hard and he was ready to strap her down. "You need to rest." He added in a gentler tone.

Lowri shook her head and looked down at the floor, readying herself to stand.

"I need to help Nat." She said, her voice was still hoarse and she expected that her voice wouldn't return to normal for a good few hours. Lowri pushed herself up from the bench and she was about to step off but Steve placed a hand on her shoulder to stop her.

"You just lost a lot of blood, you're swaying on your feet. You need to rest." Steve said sternly. Lowri looked up at him and shook her head. "Elizabeth, you-" Steve began, hearing the name Elizabeth brought a strange sensation over her. It was the name that she was under when she fell in love with him.

"Elizabeth?" Came the sharp tone of Tony Stark, he pushed off from the wall and stepped closer, his Iron Man suit clanking loudly on the metal floor. "Who's Elizabeth?" He continued, he glanced between Steve and Lowri quickly, "You're Elizabeth? I thought your name was Lowri. Have you been lying to us the entire time?" He asked, narrowing his eyes at Lowri. "Again?"

"No." Lowri said firmly. She shrugged Steve's hand from her shoulder, wincing as she jerked her torso but she tried not to let Steve see but he probably did. She stepped around him and walked past Tony with a sharp look and she ducked into the cockpit.

As she slid into her seat, pain shot up from her stomach and she groaned out loud.

"Tough night?" Nat asked humorously. Lowri glanced at her with a warning look as she strapped herself back in. She groaned again and held her stomach until the wave of pain had vanished. She closed her eyes as the wave washed over her and she damned Loki in her mind. "You alright, Ri?" Nat asked.

"I'll live." Lowri answered, she slowly reached for the headset just in front of her, scared to move quickly in case another wave came over her. Nat saw her struggle and grabbed them first, she handed them to Lowri with a small smile. "Thanks." Lowri said as she put the headset on. "At least I think I'll live." Lowri added.

Nat quickly radioed back to the helicarrier and informed them of their position, now quickly making their way back.

" _Is he saying anything?_ " Nick asked over the radio.

"Not a word." Nat answered, she glanced behind at Loki and then quickly looked forward again. Lowri looked back too but as soon as Loki locked eyes with her, she snapped her head back and looked ahead of her again. She felt a creepy feeling crawl up the back of her neck and she rubbed at the front of her neck. "You know, you already got bruises showing up." Nat remarked.

Lowri groaned again, but this time it wasn't out of pain.

"Seriously?" Lowri asked, she glanced at Nat, who looked at her and nodded. "Damn it." Lowri cussed. Bruises tended to stick out like a sore thumb on her pale skin and they take a long time to disappear. She was hoping for a few more hours before bruising took place.

" _Just get him here. We're low on time._ " Nick commanded.

Nat pushed forward and the jet sped up, they shot across the clear sky but suddenly, clouds surrounded them and the air crackled around them, lightning crashed across the sky and there was a loud thump on top of the jet and the entire jet shuddered with the impact something heavy.

Lowri and Nat shared an uncertain look as Nat tried to control the jet, battling the elements around them. Lowri heard the sound of Tony closing himself into his suit and she heard Steve yell.

"What are you doing?" Steve yelled, Lowri glanced backwards and saw that Tony stood by the panel beside the back of the jet and just after he hit the open button to check what was going on outside the jet, he was thrown backwards with a loud punching sound and he slammed into Steve.

Both men went crashing to the floor just before the cockpit and the jet shook again as a blonde-haired man boarded the jet, scanned the room and grabbed Loki before leaving the jet.

"Shit." Lowri cussed as she faced forwards again, luckily, the lightning receded as soon as the blonde-haired man left.

"And now there's that guy." Tony grumbled, he stumbled to his feet and headed to the opening at the back of the jet.

"Another Asgardian?" Nat shouted over the noise of the wind whipping around the jet.

"It's Thor." Lowri yelled back.

"That guy's a friendly?" Steve asked loudly as he got to his feet shakily, he glanced at Lowri and Nat but snapped his attention back to Tony, who was peering over the edge of the drop down.

"Doesn't matter. If he frees Loki or kills him, the Tesseract is lost to us." Tony stated as he peered over the edge.

Lowri shared a look with Nat and pleaded with her silently, Nat gave her a warning look but Lowri yanked off her headset and got up from her seat, she climbed out of the cockpit, ignoring the twinge in her stomach as she stepped out into the back of the jet.

"Stark! We need a plan of attack!" Steve yelled.

Lowri stepped up beside Steve and looked at Tony.

"I have a plan, attack." Tony said firmly before jumping out of the back of the jet. Lowri groaned and turned from the opening at the back of the jet, she tucked a loose strand behind her ear but it escaped instantly.

In the corner of her eye, Steve moved quickly. She turned to him as he grabbed a parachute and he made himself busy by strapping himself in. For a moment, Lowri was drawn back to November 1943 when the wind whipped around the outside of the plane as Howard Stark and Lowri flew Steve to Austria to carry out a big rescue operation.

Lowri was brought back to the present when Steve grabbed hold of his shield and looked at her for a long moment, she missed out on whatever Nat and Steve had said while she was in deep thought and she found his gaze to be pressing.

He looked worried and he paused, as if waiting for her approval. She gave him a small smile and she nodded her head, immediately, Steve turned and jumped from the back of the jet.

Lowri turned back to the cockpit and stood in the doorway, looking in on Nat. "I'm going after him." She said, she bit down on her bottom lip but when she saw Nat's look in the reflection from the glass, she amended herself. "Them. I mean them."

"Do you really think that's a good idea, Ri?" Nat asked. Lowri nodded her head and leant against the wall. "You're injured. Like really badly and you're gonna jump out of a plane for the second time in one night? I know you're insane, Ri, but surely you understand and acknowledge your limits?" Nat asked.

Lowri shrugged her shoulders and straightened up. "This will be gone properly in about four days," Lowri said, gesturing to her stomach, "Scars are not a problem. And these will go hopefully soon." She added, gesturing to her neck. "Close up after me." Lowri called as she strode down to the drop down.

Lowri heard her own voice break and crack under the pressure of the call, and she let out a dry cough.

"What are you gonna do?" Nat called, making Lowri stop just short of the drop down.

"Talk." Lowri replied before jumping from the jet.

* * *

 **And there we have it, this week's update. I finally got to see Black Panther last Sunday (literally one of my two days off work) and it was utterly amazing!**

 **Thanks to all my lovely readers, I hope you all enjoy and have a good week.**

 **Read, Review, Follow & Favourite!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Happy Tuesday, my lovely readers!**

 **Once again, thank you to all those who have followed and favourited my stories!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own any Marvel characters that may be used or any Marvel storylines or arcs.**

 **Claimer: I only own the character Elizabeth Jones (Lowri Jones and any other names she uses) and her story past, present and future.**

* * *

 _Recap_

 _Lowri turned back to the cockpit and stood in the doorway, looking in on Nat. "I'm going after him." She said, she bit down on her bottom lip when she saw Nat's look in the reflection from the glass and she amended herself. "Them. I mean them."_

 _"Do you really think that's a good idea, Ri?" Nat asked. Lowri nodded her head and leant against the wall. "You're injured. Like really badly and you're gonna jump out of a plane for the second time in one night? I know you're insane, Ri, but surely you understand and acknowledge your limits?" Nat asked._

 _Lowri shrugged her shoulders and straightened up. "This will be gone properly in about four days." Lowri said, gesturing to her stomach, "Scars are not a problem. And these will go hopefully soon." She added, gesturing to her neck. "Close up after me." Lowri called as she strode down to the drop down._

 _Lowri heard her own voice break and crack under the pressure of the call and she let out a dry cough._

 _"What are you gonna do?" Nat called, making Lowri stop just short of the drop down._

 _"Talk." Lowri replied before jumping from the jet._

* * *

The cool night air rushed past her as she freefell for a moment as she dropped beneath the engine fumes and backlash from the jet and then she summoned her to fire to her and she dove down under the cloud level. She thought that because Nat had stalled her a fair bit, she would have trouble finding Steve, Tony, Loki and the newcomer, Thor.

But, she saw trees mown down in large quantities and she simply had to follow the path of destruction.

She kept in the air until she found Steve, Tony and Thor standing in a triangle on the ground with trees knocked down around them. What had happened to the trees around them?

Lowri landed just behind Steve and strode past him and stopped in the middle of the triangle, turning to face each man.

"Now, who decided to knock down a few trees?" Lowri asked, she looked around in half a circle, her voice broke right at the end and she turned from Steve before she could catch the look of worry on his face.

"Uh, that would be him." Tony said, pointing to Thor, who was breathing heavy.

"Why are you here, Thor?" Lowri asked, turning to Thor. Her voice was still broken and he looked at her with his eyes narrowed.

"Did my brother have something to do with the bruises decorating your throat?" Thor asked, gesturing to his own neck. He looked at her intently.

Lowri nodded her head, "He also gave me a few other friendly gifts too, but let's focus on why you're here, Thor. I thought you went back to Asgard?" Lowri asked, shifting her weight from one foot to the other.

"I have come back to put an end to Loki's schemes and to bring him back to Asgard." Thor replied, he looked right at Lowri, "And I will make sure he will pay for what he has done to you."

"Then prove it." Steve said, he stepped around Lowri and stood in front of her. "Put the hammer down." He added in a firm tone. He raised one hand, as if he was calming Thor.

"Um, yeah, no." Tony said, waving one hand and shaking his head. "Bad call. He loves that hammer." Tony added, he gestured towards Thor, who was now looking angrier by the second and he stepped closer to Steve and Lowri.

Thor swung his hammer around and hit Tony square in the chest, sending him flying backwards into another tree that cracked, snapped and crumbled with the weight of the suit. Tony landed with a loud thump as Lowri jumped back with a little yelp.

"Thor!" Lowri yelped, she narrowed her eyes at him but he didn't look at her, he just completely ignored her.

Thor locked onto Steve, holding his hammer raised and ready.

"You want me to put the hammer down?" Thor roared. It was as though Thor was possessed by something.

Thor took a huge running jump with his hammer raised, he gave just about enough time for Steve to turn and push Lowri backwards and out of the way and for Steve to turn back and crouch with his shield over his head.

"Wait!" Lowri cried, she stumbled but she straightened up and turned back to Steve and Thor at the last moment, she got her footing back just as Thor's hammer made contact with Steve's shield and then she was hit and thrown away from them with a violent and strong force.

She felt the wind rush past her and for a moment, panic took hold, her body was already damaged and working hard to repair itself, it can't handle another beating but then she collided with a solid tree trunk and pain exploded all over her body as multiple bones broke and then everything went black.

Steve's ears rang with the sound of two metallic objects hitting and he felt the vibrations rock his body through the shield. That had been a powerful collision and as he removed the shield from above him and looked in front of him, he knew that he didn't want to be in the way of that.

The trees he could see had been knocked back and cleared by a good fifty feet. He watched Thor stagger to his feet as if he was drunk and he braced himself, who knows what this god could do.

Steve looked around, seeing what else the collision of the shield and hammer had damaged, more trees were swept down fifty in all directions but one thing was missing, where was Elizabeth?

He looked directly behind him, where he had pushed her and his heart dropped. Lying at least thirty feet away from him, was Elizabeth, lying still.

Worry gripped at him and his breath caught in his throat. He had pushed her to safety, but did he only hurt her more?

"Elizabeth." Steve breathed. He dropped his shield and cleared the thirty feet in seconds. He ignored the god and the man, Tony Stark, and dropped to his knees beside her, he was almost too scared to lay his hands on her, as if he could do more damage just by touching her.

She was so still, it was as if she was dead, but she had said before that she cannot die. Slowly, Steve pulled her onto her back and he leant closer, hoping to catch the rise and fall of her chest, indicting life.

"And I always thought her name was Lowri." Steve heard Stark comment but he ignored him again.

Steve felt relief rush through his body as soon as he saw the first rise and fall of her chest and he leant back on the balls of his feet.

Now that it was established that she was breathing, he felt a little better. She was probably unconscious but she was breathing weakly.

"I am sorry." Thor said from just behind him, Steve looked up at Thor and nodded shortly. "I don't know what came over me. It was as though a rage consumed me."

Steve looked back down at Elizabeth.

"It's alright. It's my fault, I pushed her away, I should have held her under the shield with me." Steve said slowly.

"I did not mean for Lowri to get hurt. I know her, she is a kind woman when others are not. She was good to me when others like her were hostile." Thor continued, he paused for a few seconds. "I see the way you look at her, and I know she feels the same way about you too."

Steve kept his eyes on Elizabeth, mostly making sure that she was still breathing but also because he didn't want to take her eyes off her.

"Romanoff is landing in like a minute." Stark said, walking up to them. "Uh, where did you stash Loki?" Stark asked, looking at Thor.

Steve gently took Elizabeth into his arms and as he straightened up, he caught sight of her face and when he saw how relaxed she looked, his heart warmed. Memories flooded back to him and all he wanted to do was to go back to London 1943 and press her against the doorway of her home and kiss her with all he had again.

Agent Romanoff stood at the back of the jet with her hands on her hips.

"What the hell happened to her?" Agent Romanoff asked sharply, she snapped Steve's attention from his memories and he looked up at her but he didn't get a word in.

"Hammerhead over there got a little too excited with his magic hammer." Stark answered as he strode past Steve and headed into the jet.

Steve remained standing at the back of the jet with Elizabeth in his arms.

"She's unconscious but she's breathing weakly." Steve added. "I think she must have hit a tree. How soon can we get back in the air? She needs medical attention."

"As soon as the two gods come back." Agent Romanoff said, she stepped off the jet and stopped in front of Steve. She peered at Elizabeth. "She'll heal herself when she's like this. But, she does need to be monitored." Agent Romanoff said.

Steve nodded his head and began walking onto the jet, as he got to the top of the ramp, Agent Romanoff called up to him.

"Hey, Cap, do you want your shield back?" Agent Romanoff called as she came striding back onto the jet with his shield hanging on her arm.

Steve turned and looked at her thankfully.

"Put her down on the seats by here, they pull out." Agent Romanoff said, she propped the shield up against the seats opposite and then hurried across to pull out the seats so Steve can lay Elizabeth down.

Agent Romanoff dropped to her knees beside Lowri and began checking her airways and her breathing.

"Yeah, she's unconscious but she is definitely breathing." Agent Romanoff said, she got back up to her feet and looked up at Steve. "What actually happened?"

"Something came over the man, Thor is his name?" Steve asked. "His hammer and my shield connected and it wiped out about fifty feet of trees. Elizabeth was in the way. I tried to push her behind me, so I could get the brunt of whatever it was, but I guess I only helped in injuring her even more." Steve explained.

Thor landed with a thump just outside the jet and he had Loki in his grasp. He strode into the jet and pushed Loki hard into the seat closest to the exit and stood over him, watching carefully.

"Alright," Agent Romanoff said, "We can get into the air." She said as she strode towards the cockpit, "Just monitor her breathing and if she stops, just do CPR."

Steve looked down at Elizabeth, his eyes narrowed, what's CPR?

He got down on his knees beside her and watched her carefully as Agent Romanoff got the jet into the air.

Steve closed his eyes for a moment, letting his memories come back to him. On their last day together, during that fight with Hydra on the last base, Elizabeth had been hurt much like she had been today with Loki's sceptre, she had played it off and looked at him with those beautiful eyes.

Steve's stomach churned uncomfortably as he looked down at Elizabeth, her last words to him had been ' _I love you._ ' Steve hadn't replied but his gormless look clearly hadn't explained how much he loved her too.

Lowri slowly came back to her senses and the first thing she felt was that she was floating on thin air, her limbs seemed way too light and it was though gravity was gone.

And then, she dropped. She felt herself fall and fall and then she woke up abruptly when she crashed onto the hard, metal floor of the jet.

She yelped when she landed and she clutched at her stomach as the pain emerged again, fast.

Lowri curled on the floor, feeling sore in her stomach and her neck and her head and her back, pretty much everywhere on her body. Her hands began prickling with pins and needles, but she ignored them.

She opened her eyes slowly and briefly, everything was out of focus and all she could see was the metal floor under her. The light was almost too bright and she closed her eyes again.

Where was she?

Lowri felt the metal grids underneath her and she picked up on the sound of the engines working hard. She opened her eyes again and looked up.

There were four sets of eyes on her, two were dressed up in Asgardian clothes, another stood in a metal suit and another in the red, white and blue outfit that she knew and loved.

Lowri closed her eyes again and pressed her cheek against the cool metal floor, exhaling gently as she did so.

She felt the soreness leave her stomach and neck but she felt aching all over.

"Is she awake?" Came a female voice. It took Lowri a few seconds to register that the voice belonged to Nat.

She felt hands on her back and shoulders, they were gentle and comforting hands.

"Elizabeth?" A deep voice asked from just behind her. Her heart warmed at the sound of his voice, awakening something deep inside her. She slowly opened her eyes and turned slightly, she narrowed her eyes at the lighting but she focused on the man in front of her, Steve.

Slowly, she tried to sit up but the muscles in her arms were weak and she struggled, Steve placed his hands on her upper arms and helped lifted her up. She leant back against the seats behind her gently and breathed out as she glanced around.

Tony quickly shifted his staring gaze away from her and he started up a conversation with Nat in the cockpit.

Thor was standing over Loki with his arms crossed, but the way he looked at her was completely sympathetic. Loki, sat as far away as he could with a sadistic look on his face.

"Elizabeth," Steve said gently, bringing her attention back to him, "Are you feeling any better?" he asked, he looked deep into her eyes and searched them when her answer was delayed.

She blinked rapidly, struggling to get focus on anything. She looked up at him with wide eyes.

"Yes." She said slowly, "I'll heal, eventually." She added with a small smile. "I'm sorry." She said quietly.

Steve looked at her with surprise written in his eyes and he smiled as he chuckled.

"What are you sorry for, Elizabeth?" Steve asked.

Lowri shook her head slowly, "I don't know why I said that." She said, she looked down at her knees. "Maybe I'm trying to apologise for not being there for you and for not telling you about me in 1945."

Steve looked a little more relaxed and he looked down at his hands.

"The Red Skull was interested in anyone and anything that could enhance his chances of winning. If he had heard about you, he would have targeted you." Steve said, "You don't have to be sorry about anything. In fact, I should be saying sorry. I'm the one that pushed you away, I'm the reason why you got hurt, if I had only brought you under my shield-"

"It's alright, Steve. You didn't have to do anything." Lowri said quickly, she smiled at him weakly and he looked at her for a few moments, not saying anything.

"Hey, I've got something of yours." Steve said slowly. He smiled as he reached into his pocket and he drew out something small and he held it in his closed hand. "Here, pass me your hand."

Lowri offered him her hand and he gently placed the item in her hand. She drew her hand back and she saw that it was the tarnished old necklace that she never took off.

"The star was made up of the spare key for my home in Brooklyn." Steve said, "The chain was made from the leftovers and the guy who made it said that the necklace was clearly going to a girl I loved, so he gave it to me for free. He knew it was for someone very special to me."

Lowri kept her eyes on the necklace, she knew that it had some sentimental value behind it but she never that she actually had a piece of him with her for all this time.

"I was going to give it to you when I told you how I felt, but then I kissed that private and you were angry and upset and I just wanted to make you happy again, so I left it on your desk. I missed you, though. And I wanted you to have something of me while I was away. It was horrible being away from you for those months." Steve hurriedly said.

Lowri almost teared up, she clasped the necklace in her hands.

"I wasn't angry at you at the time. I was angry at myself for falling for you so quickly." She said quietly. Steve didn't have the chance to reply.

"We're here." Nat announced. The jet stopped flying in one direction and began its vertical descent onto the helicarrier.

Lowri looked down from Steve and then she slowly clasped the necklace around her neck. She felt happy at the familiar feeling of the star resting on her chest. Then, as the jet touched down on the deck and the engines died off, Lowri placed her hands on the cool metal floor and she tried to stand.

As she got halfway up, her knees still bent but shaking considerably, one hand pressed against the wall of the jet and the other on the bench beside her, she felt a strong wave of dizziness rush over her and it literally took her breath away, with no protests from her, she passed out and fell.

* * *

 **So, as a quick note: The reason why Steve calls Lowri by the name Elizabeth is because he is still struggling with this new world where she's under a new identity. Sorry if anyone gets lost.**

 **Thank you again to my lovely readers, I hope you all enjoy and have a good week!**

 **Read, Review, Follow & Favourite!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Happy Wednesday, my lovely readers!**

 **Big thank you to my new reviewers: Fandom Girl Writer and Crazy Devil Girl. In answer to your review: Crazy Devil Girl, Elizabeth/Lowri has a faster healing rate but she doesn't recover as such like Wolverine. She heals on the outside fast but the insides (muscles and that) take a little longer to heal. You'll that in the following chapter. I hope that cleared it up for you.**

 **Also, big thank you to those who have followed and favourited my story too!**

 **By the way, this chapter is in Steve's POV.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own any Marvel characters that may be used or any Marvel storylines or arcs.**

 **Claimer: I only own the character Elizabeth Jones (Lowri Jones and any other names she uses) and her story past, present and future.**

* * *

 _Recap_

 _"Hey, I've got something of yours." Steve said slowly. He smiled as he reached into his pocket and he drew out something small and he held it in his closed hand. "Here, pass me your hand."_

 _Lowri offered him her hand and he gently placed the item in her hand. She drew her hand back and she saw that it was the tarnished old necklace that she never took off._

 _"The star was made up of the spare key for my home in Brooklyn." Steve said, "The chain was made from the leftovers and the guy who made it said that the necklace was clearly going to a girl I loved, so he gave it to me for free. He knew it was for someone very special to me."_

 _Lowri kept her eyes on the necklace, she knew that it had some sentimental value behind it but she never knew that she actually had a piece of him with her for all of this time._

 _"I was going to give it to you when I told you how I felt, but then I kissed that private and you were angry and upset and I just wanted to make you happy again, so I left it on your desk. I missed you, though. And I wanted you to have something of me while I was away. It was horrible being away from you for those months." Steve said hurriedly._

 _Lowri almost teared up, she clasped the necklace in her hands._

 _"I wasn't angry at you at the time. I was angry at myself for falling for you so quickly." She said quietly. Steve didn't have the chance to reply._

 _"We're here." Nat announced. The jet stopped flying in one direction and began its vertical descent onto the helicarrier._

 _Lowri looked down from Steve and then she slowly clasped the necklace around her neck. She felt happy at the familiar feeling of the star resting on her chest. Then, as the jet touched down on the deck and the engines died off, Lowri placed her hands on the cool metal floor and she tried to stand up._

 _As she got halfway, her knees still bent but shaking considerably, one hand pressed against the wall of the jet and the other on the bench beside, she felt a strong wave of dizziness rush over her and it literally took her breath away, with no protests from her, she passed out and fell._

* * *

Steve was still on his knees when Elizabeth had passed out and luckily, he had kept his eyes on her, his gut dropped when her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she went deathly pale. He quickly caught her as she fell and held onto her as he lowered her down to the floor.

He gazed down at her, concern raging through him and he knew that she needed to have urgent medical attention.

As the back of the jet dropped down, a large team of heavily armoured agents boarded the jet with a pair of thick handcuffs for Loki. Steve watched him. The look that Loki had on his face as he stood was not one of defeat, it was of triumph.

Thor left the jet soon after Loki had been taken off and Stark was not far behind him. Steve gathered Elizabeth up into his arms again, surprised at how light she felt as he got to his feet and straightened up.

"That hammer really took it out of her." Agent Romanoff remarked as she stepped out of the cockpit. "I'm guessing you're looking for the medic wing? I'll take you." As she headed for the back of the jet, she grabbed Steve's shield and held it for him.

They left the jet together, side by side, but then Agent Romanoff took the lead.

Agent Romanoff stopped a passing agent and told him that the fuel tank was running low and that it needed to be topped off.

She strode ahead of Steve, almost determined. Steve had so many thoughts rushing through his mind, it was hard to distinguish what he actually felt and thought.

"She said to me that she has a faster healing rate. Like me." Steve began, he tightened his hold on Elizabeth as he followed Agent Romanoff across the runways on the helicarrier. "Why isn't she healing?"

"Lowri told me that her body works in strange ways, but yes, she does have a fast healing rate. I've seen her get riddled with bullets and she still managed to complete the mission." Agent Romanoff said. She slowed down so she walked side by side with Steve. "Lowri is still a human being, she may be able to heal from bullets quickly, but being throttled by a God and then knocked out by a strange force, that probably took it out of her and her body needs to recover first. She's only human, but she just got bigger limits compared to the rest of us mortals."

Steve looked over the flight deck and saw Loki being escorted into the building through another door, surrounded by an army of agents, all geared up for the worst.

Agent Romanoff led Steve through the helicarrier and into the medic wing quickly and explained the situation to the medics as Steve lay Elizabeth on the pristine white bed in the medic wing and looked down at her wistfully, willing her to wake up and say that everything is perfectly fine.

"You are going to have to leave, both of you." The medic in charge said, she looked at Agent Romanoff first and then gave a scared look at Steve.

"Come on." Agent Romanoff said, she jerked her head towards the door and passed through. Steve followed unwillingly but he stood outside and look in through the glass.

Elizabeth looked as though she was merely asleep.

"Captain, we have got the best medics on board, and they all know that Lowri is like a superhuman, they'll stabilise her until she wakes up. She'll be fine." Agent Romanoff said gently. She looked away from Steve and for a short moment and then she looked back up at him. "We've got orders to report to the bridge for an emergency meeting."

Steve nodded his head and followed Nat from the medic wing, through endless corridors until they reached the bridge. Inside, the agents were still milling about the lower levels, monitoring the computers and monitors but, at the table there was Doctor Banner and Thor.

Agent Romanoff strode to a stern looking woman just stood to the side of the table, watching Doctor Banner and Thor closely.

"Where's Director Fury?" Agent Romanoff asked as she approached the woman.

"Welcoming the out of town nut job." The woman replied quickly. She gestured to the table in front of them all and screens illuminated on the glass surface. Agent Romanoff slid into a seat and Steve followed suit but Doctor Banner and Thor chose to remain standing.

The screen showed a live feed from a room holding a very large cage. Loki was pacing the large cage and Director Fury was stood at the control board just to the side, talking.

" _In case it's unclear, if you try to escape, if you so much as scratch that glass,_ " Director Fury began as he pressed a few buttons on the control board and the floor beneath the glass cage opened up and let in a hard breeze. " _It's 30, 000 feet straight down in a steel trap. You get how that works?_ " Director Fury asked.

Loki looked down at the ground through the glass with a curious smile on his face. Director Fury pressed a few more buttons on the control panel and the floors closed up once more underneath the glass cage.

" _Ant._ " Director Fury said, pointing to Loki and the glass cage. " _Boot._ " Director Fury finished, pointing to the control board.

Loki let out a laugh and began to slowly pace the glass cage once more, he glanced at the camera in the corner and then he looked at Director Fury.

" _It's an impressive cage. Not built, I think, for me_." Loki said calmly, he looked right at Director Fury, letting his words hang in the air.

" _Built for something a lot stronger than you_." Director Fury replied, his words gave nothing away but Loki seemed to have turned the questioning on to Director Fury

" _Oh, I've heard. A mindless beast. Makes play he's still a man. How desperate are you_ ," Loki said, his eyes flickered to the camera again but he kept up his pacing around the cell. " _that you call on such lost creatures to defend you?_

" _How desperate am I_?" Director Fury asked.

At this point, one of the doors to the bridge opened and Steve looked up briefly. Elizabeth stepped through the door and scanned the room. Her eyes settled on the group at the table and she made her way towards them. She moved slowly, as if she was still in pain and she rubbed at her forehead as she neared.

Elizabeth looked exhausted, and as though she could do with a week's worth of sleep, she looked pale and grey, her eyes were dull and it was as if life had been drained from her. In all his days of knowing her, Elizabeth has never looked like this and it worried him.

She took a seat next to Steve and when she realised that the screens were displayed on the table, she placed her elbows on the table and leant forward to have a look.

Steve let his eyes skim down her, past her long hair that fell forward lazily, he saw that she was thin, pale and tired.

" _You threaten my world with war. You steal a force you can't hope to control. You talk about peace and you kill for fun. You have made me very desperate. And you might not be so glad that you did._ " Director Fury said.

" _Oooh._ " Loki breathed out, he stopped pacing and turned to look at Director Fury. " _It burns you to have come so close to the Tesseract, to have power, unlimited power. And for what_?" Loki asked, he resumed his pacing and he paused his words, studying Director Fury and his reactions. " _A warm light for all mankind to share. And then to be reminded what real power is._ " Loki finished with a triumphant smile.

Director Fury nodded his head at Loki and turned from him, he stepped away from the control panel and clasped his hands behind his back. He stopped at the top step and turned to look at Loki again.

" _Let me know if 'real power' wants a magazine or something._ " Director Fury remarked before jogging down the steps and he left the room.

The live feed running to the screens on the table close down and disappeared from the table and everyone looked up except for Elizabeth, her eyes remained trained on the table and she as anxiously chewing on her bottom lip.

Steve looked at her for what felt like a moment too long and he drew his eyes away before the speaking started.

"He really grows on you, doesn't he?" Doctor Banner asked, he crossed his arms and faced the small group.

"Loki is gonna drag this out." Steve put in, he glanced around the group and they seemed to be locked in their own thoughts, Elizabeth was playing with the star on the necklace around her neck and her finger brushed one of her bruises and she winced slightly. He turned from her and looked at Thor, "So, Thor, what's his play?"

Thor pursed his lips before answering. "He has an army called the Chitauri. They are not of Asgard, nor any world known. He means to lead them against your people. He believes they will win him the Earth, and in return, I suspect, for the Tesseract." Thor answered.

"An army." Steve said slowly, he glanced around again, "From outer space?" The disbelief in his voice was present and very clear.

"So, he's building another portal?" Doctor Banner asked, he stepped towards the table and he had a look of concentration on his face. "That's what he needs Erik Selvig for?"

"Selvig?" Thor asked sharply, he looked at Doctor Banner with an intense gaze and took a small step towards him.

"He's an astrophysicist." Doctor Banner answered.

"He's a friend." Thor replied quickly.

Elizabeth leant back in her chair and looked up at Thor.

"We brought Doctor Selvig in because we were going to study the Tesseract. We offered him protection. But we failed him." Elizabeth said. Thor looked away from Elizabeth, as if he was hurt on the inside.

"Loki has him under some kind of spell, along with one of ours." Agent Romanoff said, she had looked up at Thor when she began talking but as soon as she was finished, she looked away hastily again.

"He's got this… sceptre." Elizabeth began, she turned in her seat and then stood up slowly, wincing as she did so. "There's something inside that sceptre and it packs a punch." Thor looked at Elizabeth, taking in the burnt clothes and the bruises. "Loki pressed the tip of the sceptre against the chest of our guy, right over the heart and something took control of our guy. Loki tried it on me, but it didn't work."

As she spoke, Elizabeth stepped around the table until she was beside Thor and Doctor Banner.

"So, you think there's something in the sceptre that aids him?" Doctor Banner asked, directing his question at Elizabeth.

"Yes. I'm not too sure what but there is something in there that can control minds, unless Loki can control minds by himself?" Elizabeth asked, turning to Thor.

Thor shook his head and he looked down.

"I want to know why Loki let us take him." Steve said slowly, "He's not leading an army from here." Steve pointed out.

"I don't think we should be focusing on Loki. That guy's brain is a bag full of cats, you can smell the crazy on him." Doctor Banner said with a smile, he almost laughed but he sobered up at the sight of Thor's angered look.

"Have care how you speak, Loki is beyond reason but he is of Asgard. And he is my brother." Thor said, almost proudly.

"He killed eighty people in two days." Agent Romanoff said without looking up from the table.

"He's adopted." Thor answered simply.

"I think it's about the mechanics." Doctor Banner began, he paced towards the back of the table. "Iridium. What do they need iridium for?"

The door on the far end of the room opened and Tony Stark strolled through with Agent Coulson beside him, talking in low tones.

"It's a stabilising agent." Stark said loudly as he walked closer, he turned back to Agent Coulson and muttered something to him before turning back to the group with a flourish. "It means the portal won't collapse in on itself, like it did at S. H. I. E. L. D." Stark continued.

Stark stepped closer to the table and walked around until he was by Thor.

"No hard feelings, point break. You've got a mean swing." Stark said. Thor looked at him with a strange look and Stark turned from, he spotted Elizabeth and closed the distance. "You alright now, Ri?"

Elizabeth nodded her head tiredly and shrugged her shoulders. Stark nodded his and turned from her.

"Also, it means the portal can open as wide and stay open as long as Loki wants." Stark said, walking to the circle of monitors and played about.

Elizabeth shifted her shoulders uncomfortably as the strong painkillers the medics gave her wore off. The soreness in her shoulders and back returned but thankfully the pain in her stomach was nothing that just a dull ache.

"Uh, raise the mizzenmast. Jib the topsails." Stark said, sprouting random words out of his mouth as he turned to look over the agents on the lower levels of the bridge. "That man is playing Galaga! He thought we wouldn't notice. But we did." Stark continued, he turned his attention to the circle of monitors. "How does Fury even see these?" He asked, placing a hand over one his eyes.

"He turns." The stern looking woman remarked.

"Sounds exhausting." Stark replied. He tapped the monitor screens randomly and ran his hands along the bottoms of the screens.

Steve began to recognise certain behaviours that Stark displayed, some of them came from his father.

"The rest of the raw materials Agent Barton can get his hands on pretty easily. The only major component he still needs is a power source of high-energy density. Something to kick start the Cube." Stark finished, he glanced around the group almost smugly.

"When did you become an expert in thermonuclear astrophysics?" the stern looking woman asked sceptically.

"Last night." Stark answered. He smiled smugly at her and walked past her towards the table. "The packet? Selvig's notes? The extraction papers? Am I the only one who did the reading?" Stark asked, looking around the table.

"Does Loki need any particular kind of power source?" Steve asked, he glanced around the table and his eyes settled on Doctor Banner.

"He would have to heat the Cube up to 120 million kelvins just to break through the coulomb barrier." Doctor Banner said.

"Unless Selvig has figured out how to stabilise the quantum tunnelling effect." Stark added. He headed around the table and went straight for Doctor Banner. They shook hands eagerly.

"Is that what just happened?" Steve asked a little sarcastically.

"Your work on antielectron collision is unparalleled and I'm a huge fan of the way you lose control and turn into an enormous green-rage monster." Stark said, shaking Doctor Banner's hand.

"Thanks." Doctor Banner answered shortly.

"Doctor Banner is only here to track the Cube. I was hoping you might join him." Director Fury said as he entered the bridge and quickly strode towards the table.

"I would start with that stick of his. It may be magical but it works an awful lot like a Hydra weapon." Steve said.

"I don't know a lot about that but it is powered by the Cube. And I'd like to know how Loki used it to turn two of the sharpest men I know into his personal flying monkeys." Director Fury said.

"Monkeys? I do not understand." Thor said slowly, he looked at Director Fury with a confused look written in his eyes.

"I do!" Steve burst out. He looked around the group, happy that he understood one of the new references people always seemed to be making but he was met with serious looks. "I understood that reference."

There was a moment of almost painful silence before Stark turned to Doctor Banner.

"Shall we play, Doctor?" Stark asked.

"This way, sir." Doctor Banner replied with a nod of his head. Together, they left the bridge, murmuring in low tones together.

* * *

 **And there we have it! I'm not sure if I like writing in other character's POV. I have to admit, this chapter may not be the best of my work.**

 **Anyway, thanks for reading!**

 **Read, Review, Follow Favourite!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Happy Tuesday, my lovely readers!**

 **Big thank you to my new followers: JesiLea, NeedtoRead10, Avalongirl55, need47, GrossEwww & lunatarimoon!**

 **This chapter is in Steve's POV for the most part, but then reverts back to Lowri's POV.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own any Marvel characters that may be used or any Marvel storylines or arcs.**

 **Claimer: I only own the character Elizabeth Jones (Lowri Jones and any other names she uses) and her story past, present and future.**

* * *

 _Recap_

 _"Unless Selvig has figured out how to stabilise the quantum tunnelling effect." Stark added. He headed around the table and went straight for Doctor Banner. They shook hands eagerly._

 _"Is that what just happened?" Steve asked a little sarcastically._

 _"Your work on antielectron collision is unparalleled and I'm a huge fan of the way you lose control and turn into an enormous green-rage monster." Stark said, shaking Doctor Banner's hand._

 _"Thanks." Doctor Banner answered shortly._

 _"Doctor Banner is only here to track the Cube. I was hoping you might join him." Director Fury said as he entered the bridge and quickly strode towards the table._

 _"I would start with that stick of his. It may be magical but it works an awful lot like a Hydra weapon." Steve said._

 _"I don't know a lot about that but it is powered by the Cube. And I'd like to know how Loki used it to turn two of the sharpest men I know into his personal flying monkeys." Director Fury said._

 _"Monkeys? I do not understand." Thor said slowly, he looked at Director Fury with a confused look written in his eyes._

 _"I do!" Steve burst out. He looked around the group, happy that he understood one of the new references people always seemed to be making but he was met with serious looks. "I understood that reference."_

 _There was a moment of almost painful silence before Stark turned to Doctor Banner._

 _"Shall we play, Doctor?" Stark asked._

 _"This way, sir." Doctor Banner replied with a nod of his head. Together, they left the bridge, murmuring in low tones together._

* * *

Elizabeth turned to the circle of monitors and looked up at Director Fury. They spoke for a few seconds and then Elizabeth turned from him with a tired look on her face.

Steve stood up and blocked Elizabeth from leaving and she looked up at him, clearly exhausted.

"How're you feeling?" Steve asked, he looked down at her with concern in his eyes. Elizabeth looked up at him with a tired look in her eyes. She shrugged her shoulders, glanced at the floor and then offered him a small smile.

"I feel a little tired, but I feel much better than what I felt an hour ago." Elizabeth replied, her voice was weary and she shifted her weight from one foot to the other almost uncomfortably.

"Is there anything that you need?" Steve asked, his eyes searched hers again but he didn't actually know what to say to her, seeing her like this makes him see her in a new light. "Is there anything I can get for you?"

"A nap." Elizabeth said firmly. "What I need is a chance to shut my eyes and rest properly. I'm on my way back to my room on rest orders from the guy I hired." Steve chuckled and smiled at her.

"Well, don't let me get in your way. I'll see you later." Steve said gently, he stepped to the side and let her pass.

Elizabeth went on her way, offering him another small smile before leaving the bridge. Steve watched as she left the bridge, and he wanted to follow her. He has so many questions but he knew she needed to rest.

Instead, he chose to explore the helicarrier and to find a place where he can change out of his suit.

Steve passed by Doctor Banner's laboratory and spied Doctor Banner and Tony Stark in the middle of an animated conversation which resulted in Stark pulling out a small rod and jabbing Doctor Banner in the side.

Steve pushed his way into the lab, a serious look on his face.

"Ow! Doctor Banner yelped, he rubbed at his side a little ruefully and took a small step away from Stark, he jokingly glared him, Stark had a huge grin on his face as he placed the rod on the table in front of him.

"Hey!" Steve said loudly as he strode through the doors and he headed for the desk.

"Nothing?" Stark asked, ignoring Steve. Stark stepped around Doctor Banner with a smile still plastered on his face as Steve stopped in front of the desk laden with various objects unknown to him.

"Are you nuts?" Steve asked, glaring at Stark, he glanced at Doctor Banner to make sure there was no green in sight and then Stark looked over at Steve, the smile still on his face and he popped a few blueberries into his mouth as this entire day was completely normal to him.

"Jury's out. You really have a lid on it, haven't you?" Stark asked, he stared at Doctor Banner, "What's your secret? Mellow jazz? Bongo drums? Huge bag of weed?" Stark asked, stepping closer to Doctor Banner.

"Is everything a joke to you?" Steve asked sharply as he placed his two hands on the table in front of him and leant forward slightly.

"Funny things are." Stark replied quickly.

"Threatening the safety of everyone on this ship isn't funny." Steve said hotly, he glanced at Doctor Banner with slight remorse in his eyes. "No offence, Doc."

"It's alright." Doctor Banner said gently. "I wouldn't have come aboard if I couldn't handle pointy things." Doctor Banner admitted with a smile. He glanced at Stark and the smile grew wider.

"You're tip-toeing, big man. You need to strut." Stark said, striding around the desk and gesturing towards Doctor Banner.

"And you need to focus on the problem, Mr Stark." Steve insisted quickly. Stark annoyed him, he scratched at the surface and Steve didn't like it.

"Do you think I'm not?" Stark asked quickly, he narrowed his eyes at Steve and Steve had the idea that Stark didn't like him either. "Why did Fury call us in? Why now? Why not before? What isn't he telling us?" Stark continued, "And I reckon your old flame is in on all the juicy secrets. She knows things we don't and I'm pretty sure she's not compelled to fill us in."

"You think Fury is hiding something?" Steve asked, he pressed his lips together to stop himself asking whether Elizabeth was in on the secret too. He guessed she was, since she was so high up in this organisation but he didn't want that.

"He's a spy, Captain. He's the 'spy'." Stark said, he looked at Steve. "His secrets have secrets. And you be sure that he knew, as soon as he joined S. H. I. E. L. D. as one of those baby agents that he knew about a certain Miss Jones and all her secrets, which I believe she kept from you until recently?" Stark asked, he raised an eyebrow at Steve.

"Elizabeth told me as soon as I woke up." Steve said quickly.

"But she didn't come straight back?" Stark asked. Steve shifted his weight from one foot to the other and he narrowed his eyes at Stark. "She went away, right? On business?"

"Elizabeth was busy in the weeks that followed. But this isn't about Elizabeth. She's explained herself to me countless of times and I understand that she's not the same woman anymore." Steve answered shortly, his eyes followed Stark as he pushed himself off from the table and he stepped towards Steve.

"Are you sure, Cap?" Stark asked. "Lowri's a complicated character. She doesn't reveal her entire self to just one person."

"This isn't about her." Steve replied through gritted teeth.

"I can tell the subject of our infamous firefly is a little touchy for you." Stark said with a smirk, he stepped away from Steve and turned. "It's bugging him too, isn't it?" Stark asked, turning to Doctor Banner, who had watched the little exchange between Steve and Stark silently and with pursed lips.

Stark seemed to have the ability to be able to change topics and forget about previous conversations.

"Uhh, I just want to finish my work here and-" Doctor Banner said, but he trailed off as he tapped on the computer. His eyes glanced at the sceptre before looking at the monitor in front of him again. Something was off.

"Doctor?" Steve asked slowly.

Doctor Banner slid his glass off and sighed loudly.

"'A warm light for all mankind.'" He quoted Loki. Doctor Banner looked up at Steve, "Loki's jab at Fury about the Cube," He added.

"I heard it." Steve answered.

"I think it was meant for you." Doctor Banner said, he turned to look at Stark, who had a mouthful of blueberries. Stark offered the bag of blueberries to Doctor Banner, who refused. "Even if Barton didn't tell Loki about the Tower, it was all over the news."

"The Stark Tower? That big, ugly-" Steve began but he caught the look that Stark was shooting at him and shortened his next sentence. "-building in New York?"

"It's powered by an arc reactor, a self-sustaining energy source. That building will run, for what, a year?" Doctor Banner asked, looking at Stark.

"It's just a prototype." Stark admitted before popping a few more blueberries into his mouth. "I'm kind of the only name in clean energy right now. That's what he's getting at." Stark answered.

"So," Doctor Banner began, "why didn't S. H. I. E. L. D. bring him in on the Tesseract project? What are they doing in the energy business in the first place?" Doctor Banner asked.

Stark calmly walked around the desk and whipped out a little device from his pocket.

"I should probably look into that once my decryption programme finishes breaking into all of S. H. I. E. L. D.'s secure files." Stark said, tapping a few buttons.

"I'm sorry. Did you just…" Steve asked, blinking at Stark.

"Jarvis has been running it since I hit the bridge. In a few short hours, I'll know every dirty little secret S. H. I. E. L. D. has ever tried to hide, including the secrets your _Elizabeth_ has been in on and kept dutifully. Blueberry?" Stark asked, offering the shiny little bag to Steve with a slight smug look on his face.

"Yet you're confused about why they didn't want you around." Steve said through gritted teeth. Stark tensed up and brought his hand holding the packet of blueberries back.

"An intelligence organisation that fears intelligence? Historically, not awesome." Stark answered shortly. He glared at Steve.

"I think Loki is trying to wind us up. This is a man who means to start a war and if we don't stay focused, he'll succeed. We have orders, we should follow them." Steve said, glaring right back at Stark.

"Following is not really my style." Stark admitted cockily.

"And you're all about style, aren't you?" Steve asked icily.

"Of all the people in this room, which one is A: wearing a spangly outfit and B: not of use?" Stark asked, this sparked a short stare off between Stark and Steve.

"Steve. Tell me none of this smell funky to you?" Doctor Banner asked, he looked at Steve, who snapped his full attention to him and his gaze grew hard.

"Just find the Cube." Steve replied shortly before storming from the lab.

* * *

Lowri woke up sprawled on her stomach and in a completely dark room. She struggled to keep her eyes open because she really wanted to go back to sleep but there was something pressing on the back of her mind, telling her to shift her ass and get up.

She switched on the main light in her small room and blinked in the new bright light before moving to the full-length mirror and she looked at herself properly.

Though Lowri is literally at the top of the organisation and entitled to all the benefits of a director, she chose a simple room with a bathroom attached, the single bed was tucked away in the corner and the wardrobe was next to the mirror and accessed by sliding the door across.

She looked down at herself, starting from her head to her toes. Her hair was an absolute mess and her throat were decorated by purple and blue bruises, her face was dirty and she still looked tired, the clothes on her body were full of rips, cuts and bullet holes and the fabric on her stomach was gone, leaving dirty white bandages wrapped around her torso.

Everything else seemed intact and as Lowri looked back up at herself, her eyes settled on the star necklace hung around her bruised neck and she smiled. It's back where it should be. She could already feel the luck flowing through her.

Slowly, she began peeling off her many layers. She shrugged off the jacket and then pulled off her ripped shirt, she unwrapped the dirty white bandages on her torso to reveal the pink, puckered skin that had thankfully healed and gave her no issues. She kicked off her shoes and socks, stripped off the rest of her clothing and stepped into the bathroom for a shower.

The hot shower worked on her tight muscles and by the time she stepped out, finally clean, she felt like a new person. That shower had also woken her up properly and her eyes were brighter and her cheeks were rosy too.

Once she was dressed in another pair of black trousers and a dark grey vest, she stood in front of the mirror again to plait back her hair. The bruises on her neck stood out considerably so she pulled on a jacket to cover them up slightly.

Lowri stepped out of her room, unaware of the time or what had happened while she napped, and she headed for the bridge where she knew Nick would be. She assumed that from there, she could find out what she had missed while she had slept.

Nick was stood just beyond the large table, leaning against the rails and he turned to look at Lowri as she approached him.

"Has anything blown up while I've been resting?" Lowri asked as she came to a stop beside him. She leant forward on the rails and looked out over the lower bridge.

"Surprisingly not." Nick replied. He faced the lower bridge too and looked out. "I have a feeling that it might be your presence that makes things blow up, everything is fine when you're not here."

Lowri looked at him and pulled a face before smiling.

"Any luck on the search with the Tesseract?" Lowri asked.

"No. Stark and Banner are still looking for it." Nick said, "And Rogers is off somewhere, I'm not too sure."

Lowri hm'd gently and stepped back from the railing. "I think I'm going to go work my muscles. They feel a little tight." She added as she rubbed her bicep.

"Alright, just don't take your earpiece out, Romanoff hates hunting you down." Nick replied, he pushed off from the rails and headed for the circle of monitors. Lowri grinned as she walked away.

"I lost it." She called out as she walked away.

"Then get another one." Nick called back to her. On her way out, she picked up another ear piece and synced it to the chosen channel and then put it in her ear.

* * *

 **Once again, thank you to all my readers, I hope you enjoy the chapter.**

 **Have a good week!**

 **Read, Review, Follow & Favourite!**


	13. Chapter 13

**Happy Wednesday, my lovely readers!**

 **Apologies for the rather late update, I've been a little busy! Big thank you to those who followed and favorited my story!**

 **This chapter is back in Lowri's POV.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own any Marvel characters that may be used or any Marvel storylines or arcs.**

 **Claimer: I only own the character Elizabeth Jones (Lowri Jones and any other names she uses) and her story past, present and future.**

* * *

 _Recap_

 _"Has anything blown up while I've been resting"? Lowri asked as she came to a stop beside him. She leant forward on the rails and looked over the lower bridge._

 _"Surprisingly not." Nick replied. He faced the lower bridge too and looked out. "I have a feeling that it might be your presence that makes things blow up, everything is fine when you're not here."_

 _Lowri looked at him and pulled a face before smiling._

 _"Any luck on the search with the Tesseract?" Lowri asked._

 _"No. Stark and Banner are still looking for it." Nick said, "And Rogers is off somewhere. I'm not too sure where."_

 _Lowri hm'd gently and and stepped back from the railing. "I think I'm going to go work my muscles. They feel a little tight." She added as she rubbed her bicep._

 _"Alright, just don't take out your earpiece out, Romanoff hates hunting you down." Nick replied, he pushed off from the rails and headed for the circle of monitors. Lowri grinned as she walked away._

 _"I lost it." She called out as she walked away._

 _"Then get another one!" Nick called back to her. On her way out, she picked up another ear piece and synced it to the chosen channel and then put it in her ear._

* * *

The gym was the one place where Lowri could excel in anything physical that didn't involve her fire. It was a place where she could focus her mind on something else and expand on her other skills.

She hopped onto one of the cross trainers as soon as she had tugged her jacket off and was only ten minutes into a vigorous exercise when her earpiece sprouted into action.

" _Loki means to unleash the Hulk. Keep Banner in the lab. I'm on my way._ " Nat's voice rang out in Lowri's ear and she paused on the cross trainer. " _Send Thor._ "

Lowri jumped off the cross trainer and grabbed her jacket as a sense of urgency rushed through her. Adrenalin took its place and she buzzed with excitement.

She tugged the jacket on and zipped it up as she exited the gym, instead of turning for the elevator which would have taken Lowri to the wrong side of the helicarrier, Lowri took the never ending stairs. There were two whole flights of stairs separating her from the lab and she took the stairs two at a time. Lowri paced herself as she reached her desired level and headed for the lab. If Bruce Banner was close to turning into the Hulk then she would need to conserve her energy.

As soon as Lowri arrived outside the lab, she knew something was up. As she peered in through the glass windows as she headed for the door, she saw Bruce Banner, Thor, Nat, Nick and Steve were already inside the lab and it was very clear that the atmosphere was bad. Lowri felt reluctant to go in, but it was clear that they were arguing about something and that she had to get in there to try to defuse the tension.

Lowri pushed her way through the doors and straight away, Steve's eyes landed on hers.

Nick was stood just in front of a table and as Lowri approached, she saw the weapon lying on the table. Her heart thudded loudly in her chest and her step faltered as her eyes landed on the WW2 Hydra weapon. Surely all of these weapons were back in storage in the basement of the Triskelion or at least the Fridge? Why isn't it contained?

She shuddered as she walked past it and came to a stop beside Nick, glancing around the room. Steve's eyes seemed unforgiving of her, and it made her wonder if she had offended him when she went to rest. Did she say something to him? Lowri wracked her brain as she tried to remember what she had said to him.

Lowri turned from him, a feeling of hurt growing in her chest but she tried to squash it down. What had she done?

"Rogers," Nick said, grabbing Steve's attention from Lowri. "We gathered everything related to the Tesseract and put it into storage. This does not mean that we are making-" Nick began but Tony jumped off the table and swung the computer monitor around so the screen was visible to the rest of the group.

 _Phase 2._

"I'm sorry, Nick. What were you lying?" Tony asked with a smug smile. Lowri's eyes locked onto the monitor and she picked up briefly what was said on the screen. Plans to use the Tesseract to create weapons once the Tesseract had been fully understood.

"I was wrong, Director." Steve said as he turned to face Nick and Lowri. "The world hasn't changed one bit."

She could only make out bits of information on the screen, but what she saw, she did not like. Her mouth dropped open and she felt like all of her colour had drained from her face.

Lowri strode to the monitor and took it in her two hands, she pulled it down to her level and read the screen eagerly, she scanned through the documents, horrified at what she saw.

"Did you know about this?" Banner asked as Lowri scanned the monitor. She shook her head and tore her eyes from the screen to look at him.

"No." She said, she turned around to look at Nick and her eyes caught onto Steve momentarily. "I had no idea."

"Lowri-" Nick began but Lowri cut him off.

"I gave the okay for the Tesseract to be brought out from storage to be monitored. That's what I gave the okay for, not for S. H. I. E. L. D. to make weapons that can wipe out anyone we choose!" Lowri snapped. She felt the heat rush to her hands and she clenched them to stop them from bursting into flames. "You know what these weapons can do."

"You want to think about removing yourself from this environment, Doctor?" Nat asked, tearing her eyes from Lowri. She feared the worst. Nat had never been on the receiving end of Lowri's anger but she had seen what can happen.

"I was in Calcutta. I was pretty well removed." Banner answered with a short laugh.

"Loki is manipulating you." Nat insisted.

"And you've been doing what, exactly?" Banner remarked.

"You didn't come here because I bat my eyelashes at you." Nat replied in a cool tone.

"Yes, and I'm not leaving because you got a little twitchy." Banner replied, he turned back to the screen and gestured towards it, "I want to know why S. H. I. E. L. D. is using the Tesseract to build weapons of mass destruction."

Lowri nodded her head quickly and she quickly turned to look at Nick with this strange commanding look about her.

"I agree. I would _love_ to hear this story." Lowri added. She crossed her arms over her chest and raised both eyebrows challengingly at Nick. "Why wasn't I told about Phase 2, Nick?"

"You were already opposed to us monitoring the Tesseract." Nick said with a sigh. "The Council and I agreed not to involve you on this project until the last second.

"You went behind my back and involved the Council?" Lowri asked, she felt her fire flame up and she dropped her arms from her chest but she kept her cool.

"Not my best move, obviously." Nick said, "It's not like we had a choice anyway. We went ahead on Phase 2 because of him." Nick added, pointing at Thor.

"Me?" Thor asked, a look of confusion came onto his face as he looked around the room.

"Last year, Earth had a visitor from another planet, who had a grudge match that levelled a small town. We learned that not only are we not alone but we are hopelessly, hilariously, outnumbered." Nick explained.

Lowri glared at him. Something as big as that did not mean that Phase 2 had to kept a secret from her. What else has Nick been hiding from her?

"My people want nothing but peace with your planet." Thor pointed out.

"But you're not the only people out there, are you?" Nick asked. He looked at Thor, "And you're not the only threat. The world is filling up with people who can't be matched, that can't be controlled."

For a second, Lowri saw his eyes settle on her.

"Like you controlled the Cube?" Steve asked sceptically.

"You forced our hand. We had to come up with something." Nick replied.

Lowri kept her attention trained on the screen in front of her, whatever Nick was planning to do with the Tesseract, it was bad. When she had been interviewed for information on the Tesseract, she had told them everything about the weapons the Red Skull had made. But they still went ahead of it.

"A nuclear deterrent. Because that always calms everything down." Tony noted.

"Remind me again how you got your fortune, Stark?" Nick asked angrily.

"I'm sure if he still made weapons, Stark would be neck deep-" Steve began but Tony cut him off.

"Wait a minute. Hold on. How is this now about me?" Tony asked.

"I'm sorry, isn't everything?" Steve retorted.

"I thought humans were more evolved than this." Thor said with a harsh laugh.

"Excuse me, did we come to your planet and blow stuff up?" Nick demanded.

Lowri couldn't stop the heated conversation from seeping in her ears but her mind was occupied with the information on the screen in front of her.

"You treat your champions with such mistrust! Lowri has done much for your world yet she is treated as though she cannot be trusted with the smallest of things!" Thor insisted.

"Are you boys really that naïve?" Nat asked, she looked at Thor and then at Banner. "S. H. I. E. L. D. monitors potential threats." Nat insisted.

"Captain America is on threat watch?" Banner laughed.

"We all are." Nat replied shortly.

"Stark, so help me God, if you make one more wise-crack –" Steve began.

"Threat! Verbal threat! I feel threated." Tony yelled.

"Show some respect." Steve snapped.

"Respect what?" Tony asked.

Lowri turned from the monitor slowly, her mind reeling with new facts about her beloved organisation. The words began mashing together in Lowri's ears and she leant back on the table heavily. There was a sinking feeling her stomach and she really didn't know why. She didn't know why everyone in the room was arguing so aggressively either.

"You speak of control, yet you court chaos." Thor claimed, making his voice soar above everyone else's.

"That That's his M. O., isn't it? I mean, what, are we a team? No, we're a chemical mixture that makes chaos. We're –we're a time bomb." Banner said.

"You need to step away." Nick said in a low tone aimed at Banner, warning him.

"Why shouldn't the guy let off a little steam?" Tony asked.

"You know damn well why. Back off." Steve snapped Steve took a small step towards Tony and seemed to be mildly glad that he was just that little bit taller.

"Oh, I'm starting to want you to make me." Tony replied.

"Yeah. Big man in a suit of armour. Take that off and what are you?" Steve asked, he looked Tony up and down as if he was scrutinising him.

"Genius. Billionaire. Play boy. Philanthropist." Tony answered smartly.

"I know guys with none of that worth ten of you." Steve said in a low and dangerous tone. "And I've seen the footage. The only thing you fight for is yourself. You're not the guy to make the sacrifice play, to lay down on a wire and let the other guy crawl over you." Steve said, once again in that low and dangerous tone.

"I think I would just cut the wire." Tony replied smoothly.

"Always a way out." Steve said with a smile, he glanced around the room, barely looking at anyone before looking back at Tony. "You may not be a threat but you better stop pretending to be a hero."

"A hero? Like you? You're a laboratory experiment, Rogers. Everything special about you came from a bottle." Steve snapped.

This caught Lowri's attention.

"The serum didn't create anything new. It enhanced what was inside." She said quickly.

"And why should we take your word for it, oh the greatest lie keeper in the world?" Tony mocked. Lowri scowled at him but made no further remark, she shouldn't have opened her mouth about Steve just then, but she couldn't not say anything.

"Put on the suit. Let's go a few rounds." Steve said through gritted teeth.

Thor laughed out loud.

"You people are so petty and tiny." Thor laughed once more and looked around the group.

"Yeah, this is a team." Banner said mockingly.

"Agent Romanoff, would you escort Doctor Banner back to his-" Nick began.

"Where? You rented my room!" Banner said angrily.

"The cell was just in case." Nick replied.

"In case you needed to kill me?" Banner asked sharply. Silence fell on the group and all eyes went to Banner. "But you can't. I know, I tried. I got low. I didn't see an end. So, I put a bullet in my mouth and the other guy spit it out." Banner said, he paused and saw that all eyes were still on him. "So, I moved on. I focused on helping other people, I was good. Until you dragged me back to this freak show and put everyone here at risk."

Lowri was moved by Banner's words. To live in a world where you can't die is a curse, not a blessing. To live longer than those you know, to watch them grow old and die? That's more painful than anything Lowri has ever known. At least Lowri had had the time to learn how to manage her funny little problem. Banner was still new to it compared to her.

"You want to know my secret, Agent Romanoff?" Banner asked, turning his attention to her, "You want to know how I stay calm?" Banner walked around the table fast.

The atmosphere had definitely calmed down now. The tension hadn't disappeared, it had multiplied by the thousands and everyone was on watch.

Lowri gripped the table behind her and watched Banner stop just in front of her and the table with the sharp sceptre in his hand. Her heart began pounding fast and hard as she watched Banner. Would she be capable of moving fast enough to stop him from doing whatever he was going to do?

"Doctor Banner." Steve said slowly, his voice was tight and controlled, he was eyeing up Banner and he seemed to be aware of Lowri standing very close to Banner. "Put the sceptre down."

Banner looked at Steve strangely and then dropped his eyes to his hands and then his eyes widened.

The computer across the room from them all began beeping loudly and Banner looked relived. He placed the sceptre back onto the table and turned back to them.

"Sorry, kids, you don't get to see my party trick after all." Banner said before he strode to the computer, pushing past Nick and Nat.

"You have located the Tesseract?" Thor asked eagerly.

"I could get there the fastest." Tony said quickly.

"The Tesseract belongs on Asgard. No human is a match for it." Thor put in.

"You're not going alone." Steve said, he grabbed Tony's arm as Tony hurried past him, both of them ignoring Thor's words.

"You gonna stop me?" Tony asked, wheeling around to face Steve.

"Put on the suit, let's find out." Steve answered.

"I'm not afraid to hit an old man." Tony mocked.

Lowri breathed out and slumped against the table, why were they at each other's throats instead of working together to solve it? Her eyes settled on the metal vent in the middle of the floor.

"Put on the suit." Steve snapped.

"Oh, my God." Banner said, his words were barely heard over the racket the others were making but Lowri heard. She sensed something bad was about to happen and then she saw a gentle glow of red in the vent on the floor.

She leant forward to have a better look and the red grew brighter and brighter steadily. She leant back sharpish and opened her mouth.

"Guys-" Lowri began but then the entire room exploded upwards and outwards.

* * *

 **And there we have it, chapter 13!**

 **Once again, thank you to all my readers, have a good week!**

 **Read, Review, Follow & Favourite!**


	14. Chapter 14

**Happy Tuesday, my lovely readers!**

 **Big thank you to my new followers :)**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own any Marvel characters that may be used or any Marvel storylines or arcs.**

 **Claimer: I only own the character Elizabeth Jones (Lowri Jones and any other names she uses) and her story past, present and future.**

* * *

 _Recap_

 _"The Tesseract belongs on Asgard. No human is a match for it." Thor put in._

 _"You're not going alone." Steve said, he grabbed Tony's arm as Tony hurried past him, both of them ignoring Thor's words._

 _"You gonna stop me?" Tony asked, wheeling around to face Steve._

 _"Put on the suit, let's find out." Steve answered._

 _"I'm not afraid to hit an old man." Tony mocked._

 _Lowri breathed out and slumped against the table, why were they at each other's throats instead of working together to solve it? Her eyes settled on the metal vent in the middle of the floor._

 _"Put on the suit." Steve snapped._

 _"Oh, my God." Bruce said, his words were barely heard over the racket the others were making but Lowri heard. She sensed something bad was about to happen and then she saw a gentle glow of red in the vent on the floor._

 _She leant forward to have a better look and the red glow grew brighter and brighter steadily. She leant back sharpish and opened her mouth._

 _"Guys-" Lowri began but then the entire room exploded upwards and outwards._

* * *

Everyone was thrown backwards and away from each other. Lowri was thrown over the desk hard and her head and back connected with the window behind her, despite the strong glass, the force she had been thrown at was hard enough to crack the window.

She fell to the floor and looked up as she tried to orientate herself. Lowri's ears rang loudly from the explosion and dust was just beginning to settle into every nook and cranny, including her eyes and mouth, making it harder to breathe.

Lowri struggled to her feet and held onto the wall behind her for support as she looked around, there was a gaping hole in the floor where the desk where Bruce had worked at once was. Just across the gap, Lowri could just about make out Thor and Nick on the ground and when she looked to the left, she saw Steve and Tony near the open doorway.

Her entire body was shaking and yet all of her limbs felt frozen. It was as though she was back in the warzone with bombs dropping left, right and centre. Her breathing was heavy as she tried to breathe through the dust and she tried to centre herself, to get her wits back. It was hard, the memories were flooding back to her but she couldn't let them stop her.

As Lowri took a tentative step towards the doorway to the left of her, the floor gave away and more of the flooring crumbled away, Lowri hastily pressed herself back against the wall as her breathing quickened as the fear settled in.

"Hill!" Nick called, Lowri realised the voice was in her ear. Her ear piece must still be working. She breathed out a thankful breath and looked around trying to find Nick again.

" _External detonation. Number three engine is down._ " Maria replied. " _Somebody's gotta get outside and patch that engine._ "

"Jones, Stark. You got that?" Nick asked. Lowri spotted him just opposite her but he was still on the floor. He looked up and saw that she was opposite him and he nodded once at her.

" _I'm on it._ " Tony said quickly, he turned in the doorway and darted away.

Steve searched the room and spied Lowri standing against the wall, he saw the large hole in the floor and his eyes widened. He took a step closer to the hole and he held out his hand over the hole. Lowri took a split second decision and jumped, she reached for his hand and he pulled her to safety. He pressed a hand to her shoulder momentarily before they both took off at a run after Tony.

" _Coulson, initiate defensive lockdown in the detention section and then get to the armoury_." Nick demanded. " _Romanoff?_ "

" _We're okay._ " Nat responded.

Steve and Lowri made their way down the corridor, both focused on getting to Engine three when they spied Tony ahead of them, he had stopped and he was catching his breath. Lowri's own chest was burning but that was going steadily.

"Engine three, I'll meet you there." Tony said as Steve and Lowri approached, he turned to go deeper into the hangar to grab his suit.

Steve turned back to her and looked at her urgently.

"Engine three." He said firmly, he offered her his hand and when she took it, they moved off together again.

Lowri was pretty fit and she could hold her own on a run but at Steve's pace, she had no chance. He moved faster but since he held her hand, they kept at the same pace. Lowri's chest began aching pretty quickly as she struggled to keep up the pace.

She called out the directions to engine three and they reached there in no time. The door that led to the control room beside engine three was jammed shut and two men were desperately trying to get the door open. As Steve and Lowri approached the room, it became evident that the two men on the other side of the door couldn't open it, Steve dropped Lowri's hand as they approached.

Steve gestured for the men to back away and then Steve used his strength to open the door all the way. Steve stepped back to let the two men to pass by with one of their colleagues supported between them and then Steve looked back at Lowri and gestured for her to go first.

Lowri walked through the doorway first and she surveyed the damage quickly. Steve stepped in behind her and together they stood in the room that had once been whole.

There was a gaping hole in the side of the room, opening up the wonderful, yet terrifying views of the world below them. The engine just to the left of the room was smoking heavily and clearly damaged.

"Stark! Stark, we're here!" Steve yelled over the communications.

" _Good._ " Tony replied and then he suddenly flew over the top of the helicarrier and flew down to them. " _Come on, Agent Jones. Let's see what we're working with._ " Tony said before shooting up over the broken engine.

"You better step to the side, Steve." Lowri said as she glanced behind her and then back away from the large drop. She pressed herself against the doorframe and looked at the sky in front of her as she breathed in deeply.

"What are you doing?" Steve asked over the whipping wind.

"Taking a running jump!" She yelled back, she grinned at him and then took her running jump towards the drop, she threw herself off the helicarrier and for a moment, she let herself fall but then she remembered Steve was probably watching her and if he was, then he would be having a heart attack at the sight of her falling.

She summoned her fire to her and let it engulf her as she shot back up into the air, towards Tony.

Lowri hovered above the huge engine and looked down.

" _We've gotta get this superconducting coolant system back online before we can access the rotors. But first, we gotta dislodge the debris. You stay up top, Agent Jones, tell me what you see and get rid of any debris and I'll work my way through._ " Tony ordered.

Lowri smiled as she cut her fire out and landed on top of the centre of the rotor blades.

"Yes, sir." She said mockingly. She concentrated the fire in her hands and aimed a long stream of hot fire at a large piece of metal wedged between two rotor blades. "You know, I've noticed that you don't like saying my name."

" _Is this really the time for this_?" Tony asked sarcastically. " _Rogers, I need you to get to that engine control panel and tell me which engine relays are in overload position._ " Tony added.

"This is the perfect time for this." Lowri replied as she jumped down into the actual engine and she kicked a few of the smaller pieces out of the way, they fell between the blades and dropped to the earth. "There's some big pieces in here, like twice my size. I don't particularly fancy setting the whole engine on fire."

" _I'm on my way. I'll cut through._ " Tony replied.

Lowri cut off the end of a particularly large piece and then kicked it so it fell between the blades and fell to the earth below.

" _What does it look like in there, Rogers?_ " Tony asked.

" _It seems to run on some sort of electricity._ " Steve replied with a sigh. Lowri pressed her lips together. Oh, he's cute.

" _Well, you're not wrong there._ " Tony noted. Lowri blasted the final piece of debris away. " _Hey, Girl with Fire, if you don't fancy being cut up like a kebab, you might wanna get out of the way. I'm coming in._ " Tony added.

Lowri picked up on the sound of the lasers cutting through metal and she shot into the air, just as the laser cut through completely and Tony booted his way through.

" _You still haven't said my name. It's really not that hard._ " Lowri noted with a smile, she hovered above the engine.

" _Ignoring you._ " Tony replied quickly.

" _Okay, the relays are intact. What's our next move_?" Steve asked.

" _Even if we can clear the rotor, this thing won't re-engage without a jump. I'm gonna have to get in there and push._ " Tony said, he turned his head up to look at Lowri. " _Don't bother putting yourself forward. You've got the fire but you can't reach the speed. And if the worst happens, my suit will give me some protection._ "

Lowri looked at him sternly, she wanted to tell him that there must be another way as he can't put his life at risk in this manner but she knew he was right. And, he had designed and built that suit, if he says it will protect him, then it will.

" _If that thing gets up to speed, you'll get shredded._ " Steve said,

" _That stator control unit can reverse the polarity long enough to disengage maglev and that could-_ " Tony began.

" _Speak English_!" Steve yelled.

" _You see the red lever?_ " Tony asked, sighing as he kicked away the last of the big debris left in the engine. " _It will slow down the rotors long enough for me to get out. Stand by it and wait for my word._ " Tony ordered. He gestured for Lowri to come down to him.

She dropped to the centre of the engine and stood on top of one of the blades.

" _I need you to melt this bit here. How hot can you go_?" Tony asked, gesturing to a piece of metal wedged between the wall of the engine and one of the blades.

"You're smirking under that mask of yours, aren't you?" Lowri asked as she jumped down into the engine and aimed her fire where he directed. "I thought you were ignoring me."

Suddenly, there was another loud bang, another loud explosion and the helicarrier shifted and juddered violently and then tilted to one side quickly.

Both engines on this side of the helicarrier was down and this meant the helicarrier was falling out of the sky.

Lowri fell back against the blade behind her and the impact made her falter, she fell between the two blades and dropped until she could summon her fire once more, she flew back up to the engine.

" _It's Barton. He took out our systems. He's headed for the detention level. Does anybody copy_?" Nick asked urgently.

Tony flew up to the engine again and powered up. " _You might wanna scat. It's about to get real fast in here._ "

Lowri shot into the air as Nick's panicked yell sounded in her ear.

" _Jones! Stark! We're losing altitude_!" Nick yelled.

" _Yeah, we noticed._ " Tony replied as he began pushing the propellers. In the corner of Lowri's eye, she saw Steve fall from the helicarrier and grapple for a hold on a piece of wire that looked just about strong enough to hold him.

" _We're working on it._ " Lowri replied sharply as she headed over to Steve. Lowri noticed the men dressed in all black, looking for a way to sabotage the engine they were working on. She dove in on them and dodged the bullets flying her way.

There were three of them, one stood near the edge and the other two were stood further back, rifles strapped to their chests.

Lowri landed behind the guy by the edge of the drop and she kicked him out, he fell quickly with a loud yell and she ducked as bullets flew at her again.

" _Cap, hit the lever._ " Tony ordered.

" _I need a minute here_!" Steve yelled as he desperately tried to climb back onto the helicarrier, which was proving to be hard because of the suction trying to pull him back out.

" _Lever? Now_!" Stark yelled.

Lowri dove towards the two men and swiped one of the men's feet from underneath him and he crashed to the floor as Lowri shot up, she dodged a punch and got her own in. He fell to the floor and Lowri quickly ran to get to the lever.

She pulled herself up onto the platform that led to the lever just as Steve climbed back on and tugged the lever down, giving Tony a chance to escape.

Lowri stepped closer to Steve and offered him her hand to help him to his feet and he looked up, he smiled as he reached for her hand.

"Thanks." He breathed out.

Before their hands could meet, bullets rang through the air, bouncing on metal walls and one buried itself in her stomach through her back.

Lowri cried out and stumbled away from Steve before falling to one knee, hunched over and with a hand pressed to her stomach.

She looked up at him and Steve watched with horror in his eyes as he saw the blood pour from the wound, over her hand and in between her fingers, the blood spread across her stomach far too quickly for his liking.

A spray of bullets was let loose, forcing Steve to back up against the wall but none were aimed for him. Most found their target quickly and buried themselves into her flesh.

By the time Steve had started to shoot back with the gun at his feet, her body was riddled with bullet wounds and she was weak. All it took was one more bullet to her shoulder, to jerk her body backwards with a twist and she fell.

Steve watched, horror struck as Lowri tumbled from the helicarrier and her fire went out with a soft puff. His heart dropped and then the final gunman began firing again. Steve ducked back and pressed himself closer to the walls, his rifle was out of ammo.

Stark flew in quickly and knocked the final gunman out.

Steve scrambled to peer back over the edge to look for any sign of Lowri but she had completely disappeared from sight.

"Did you see her, Stark?" Steve asked urgently. He didn't turn to look at Stark, he desperately searched the skies.

"I saw her." Stark breathed, he got to his feet and stumbled closer to the edge, a feeling of worry in his stomach. "My suit's damaged. I can't get to her." He too looked down at the world below them.

Steve was wordless. He was hoping she would come back.

"Agent Jones is down." Stark said, speaking into the radio communications. "She was hit and she fell from the helicarrier. We can't see her anymore."

" _Bad news this end too. Agent Coulson is down._ " Fury replied.

Steve slowly rose to his feet as he understood now that Lowri had a low chance of coming back. Even with her ability to heal fast, she may not recover from this.

" _A medical team is on its way to your location._ " Another agent replied.

Stark listened with a heavy heart and dropped his head. " _They're here. They called it._ " Fury replied.

"Come on, Cap. There's no point moping when we've gotta plan our next move." Stark said, he felt sad about Lowri, despite all she had kept from him, but she was good for him. Stark turned back to Steve, "She didn't know about Phase 2. Fury made the decision to lock her out of it."

Stark headed for the bridge, leaving Steve behind.

* * *

 ***Gasp* What do you think is going to happen to our leading Lady?**

 **More to follow next week!**

 **Read, Review, Follow and Favourite!**


	15. Chapter 15

**Happy Tuesday all! Big thank you to my new followers, you guys are great!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own any Marvel characters that may be used or any Marvel storylines or arcs.**

 **Claimer: I only own the character Elizabeth Jones (Lowri Jones and any other names she uses) and her story past, present and future.**

* * *

Lowri's eyes opened as the wind streamed past her, her arms and legs flailed around and her hair was blown out of her plait and was streaming behind her as she fell head first towards the earth.

Her brain was unable to connect with reality and she was half in and half out of consciousness, she snapped herself awake when she felt the cold air hit her face with a sharp slap.

For half a second, Lowri felt the panic grip her tightly and she let it consume her before she summoned her fire. Her entire upper body ached and protested as she slowed her falling.

She moved upwards slowly and eventually she gained speed, she felt as though she was reaching her limit, she could feel her body shake, her breath came shallower and she felt the fire flicker.

It was as though hours had passed before Lowri finally grabbed hold of the edge of the helicarrier with her good hand and she tugged herself over, she rolled onto her back and breathed out heavily.

She heard two sets of footsteps rush over to her and she was lifted into the air, she was rushed into the medical ward for monitoring and for a short period of time, she blacked out.

When Lowri woke up, she was hooked up to all sorts of machinery with wires sticking out of her. Her shirt was cut from the top button to the last with sticky pads stuck to her which monitored her heart rate.

Within seconds of her waking up, Lowri began pulling the wires out from her and beeping from somewhere next to her began going wild.

"Agent Jones, you were shot multiple times. We had to dig four bullets out of your chest cavity, you should be resting." One of the medics said quickly, he tried to push Lowri back down on the bed but Lowri brushed his hands away.

"Look." Lowri said, she pointed to her stomach where a pipe had been but the skin was quickly closing up. "I heal fast.

"You hit your head. You could have concussion." Another agent insisted.

"My name is Lowri Jones, I was born 1818 and I'm stupidly old." Lowri practically snapped. She pushed their hands away and swung her legs over the edge of the bed and sat up. "I'm healed. I'm fine. Let me be."

Lowri got to her feet and tugged the final wire out, she looked at the team of medics, all watching Lowri carefully.

"Thank you for caring for me." Lowri said before walking out.

She headed for the bridge and as she walked, she felt a wave of dizziness hit her which made her pause for a few seconds until it passed.

Nick was waiting on the bridge, seemingly waiting for her to reappear. He was stood in his circle of monitors, watching everything that was happening on the ship carefully.

Lowri approached quietly but he knew she was heading for him.

"I see the medic team found your sorry ass." Nick said as she approached him.

"Someone's got a little snappier since I last saw him." Lowri replied as she came to a stop beside him.

"You need to keep an eye out on all sides for gunmen." Nick said, he turned to look at her. "The others don't know you're back yet. They need some fire to get them moving in the right direction. Rogers and Stark are down in the detention section and Romanoff is with Barton in the medic centre. Banner and Thor are overboard."

Lowri pressed her lips together. "What happened?"

"Banner turned and Thor stepped in to match him. Somehow, Thor ended up in the cage and Banner threw himself from the helicarrier." Nick said.

"So, Loki got what he wanted. He got into Banner's mind and made him lose whatever control he had over his anger." Lowri said.

Nick nodded his head. "He got away with his damned monkeys too."

"I'll go make myself known to the others." Lowri said quickly as she turned from Nick.

"Ri." Nick said, the hurt in his tone made her freeze and then turn back. "It's Agent Coulson, Loki killed him."

She felt a horrible hole open up and swallow her. Phil had been a good friend since he was recruited out of college and he had been a very good agent. There's no way he could be dead.

Lowri turned from Nick quickly and headed out of the room before tears could fall down her face. She got a few corridors over before she pressed her back against the wall and she collapsed to the floor, tears running down her cheeks.

Phil was such a good man, he was charming and he was finally getting closer to the woman he really liked. He had so much going for him.

Lowri numbly got back up to her feet and held the wall for a few seconds as she calmed herself. She stepped off and walked back towards the detention section.

She didn't hear the footsteps coming towards her fast or she didn't see that person barrel around the corner and run full force into her.

"Jesus!" Tony yelped as they collided. He grabbed onto her shoulders to stop her from falling and she grabbed his upper arms.

"Tony!" She breathed.

"Are you a ghost?" Tony asked, he squeezed her shoulders just to make sure. "You can't be. You're real. Am I being punked or something? You fell. Like you hit your head and everything, you fell, like, twenty-seven thousand feet." Tony rambled. He dropped his hands and stepped back, craning his neck to look up and down the corridor, looking for those hidden cameras.

"You're not being punked, Tony. I can fly, you know." Lowri pointed out. She dropped her hands to her side as soon as Tony had done craning his neck. "Where's Steve? And where are you rushing off too?"

"He's gone to find the hot red-head." Tony said.

Lowri rolled her eyes at him and he grinned.

"We think we've got the last part of Loki's plan down." Tony added, "He's gonna use my Tower as the power source for the Cube to open up that portal."

"What? How did you figure that out?" Lowri asked.

"When- oh!" Tony said, "You were out joy riding, weren't you?" Tony asked, Lowri narrowed her eyes but she nodded her head. "It's Coulson-"

"I know about Phil." Lowri said quickly, "Nick just told me."

"Well, Cap and I were talking about him and it came to me, Loki is a diva. I was just on my way to kick start my suit because we don't think Loki is going to be waiting around for us." Tony said.

"Alright. Don't let me stop you." Lowri said. She stepped to the side, "You go and get your suit running, I'll go find Steve. "

Tony nodded before darting past and heading around another corner while Lowri headed for the medic centre where she knew Nat would be with Clint.

Lowri walked back down the corridor she had just escaped from and she slowed down when she spied an open door. She paused as Steve backed out of the room, still dressed in his uniform with the shield on his arm and she waited.

She stopped in the middle of the corridor as he backed out of the room and he closed the door, he turned in her direction, but he stopped straightaway with his hand still on the doorknob.

Lowri felt frozen under his intense stare, what was running through his mind?

Steve was never able to hide his emotions from her and now was no exception. When he had first turned to face her, he had a serious look on his face but as soon as he saw her, it changed to shock and then to relief.

He didn't need to say anything, his expression said it all.

Lowri didn't move, but Steve took three steps and he reached her swiftly, he brought her into his arms quickly. He didn't say anything, he didn't need to. He held her tight and she felt the edges of his shield dig into her back. Her head fit perfectly in his shoulder and she caught a nice whiff of him.

She wrapped her arms around him and she instantly felt soothed. After a long, and very lovely, moment, Lowri pressed her hands against his stomach and pushed him back reluctantly.

"As much as this is nice," Lowri began, Steve looked down at her with a happy look in his eyes, "But I'm pretty sure that we've got a world to save."

Steve chuckled and his smile grew. Just from looking at him, Lowri couldn't tell what he was thinking, other than that he was relieved. Steve moved quickly, he pressed his lips hard against hers and spread his hands on her back, pressing her closer to him once more.

He took her by surprise and her mind was wiped clean of everything reasonable. Her hands fumbled against his stomach as she gripped the material of his suit in her hands and pulled him that tiny bit closer to her. She felt her body arch towards him and she had an ache in the out of her stomach.

This felt so right.

Steve slowly leant back, his lips smiled down at her and she couldn't help but smile too.

Kissing him was something that made time stop, envelope them both into their own world and wrap them up in each other fully. It was as though it was only them.

"Well that's something that brings memories back." Lowri said slowly, Steve smiled at her and tilted his head to the side gently.

"I guess I thought it was time for me to kiss you first." Steve said with a smile.

"You already have." Lowri said, "The Whip and Fiddle." She pointed out. Steve smirked at her. "Anyway, what's the plan, Super Soldier?"

"We take the fight to Loki." Steve said firmly. He kept his grip on her firmly and pulled her against him. "He's gonna set up the portal up at Stark Tower but we don't know when. Stark's gone to fix his suit and get it flying, then he'll be flying ahead of us." Steve said, he slowly released his hold on her and she stepped out of his arms.

"How are we getting to Stark Tower?" Lowri asked.

"I asked Barton if he could fly us. He's back with us now. And I didn't know you were back." Steve said.

Lowri nodded her head. "Do I have time to grab some food and change out of these clothes?"

"You've got ten minutes." Steve said. "I'm sure we can make a small detour."

"Then let's get moving." Lowri said with a smirk. She stepped off towards her room and led Steve away.

"Fury's given me all these files on the people I knew back in the day… but they're not very informative." Steve said, he looked down at her as they rounded a corner. "Can you tell me anything, Elizabeth?"

"Yes." Lowri said as they walked, "But not right now. To fight Loki, we need clear heads. And I think that if I tell you everything, your mind will be full of what could have been. So, after all of this is over, me and you will sit down with a drink and I'll tell you anything that you want to hear." Lowri said.

"That sounds nice." Steve said with a smile.

They came to a stop in front of Lowri's room and she turned to him with a knowing smirk on her face. She planted her hands on her hips and smiled at him.

"Steve, I know it's hard for you to adjust, but I go by the name of Lowri now." She said firmly. Steve smiled down at the floor and rubbed the back of his neck.

"That's gonna be hard to get used to." Steve said slowly.

Lowri smiled at him, "After the war I decided to go by my original name, after most of the people close to me knew about who I really was, I gave up keeping a hush on my secret. But I agree, it will take time. I think it took me about four years to stop turning at the name Elizabeth."

She stopped talking and ducked into her room sharpish when she realised that they were on a time limit.

Lowri quickly stripped off her bloody clothes once more and dressed in her field suit, it came in two separate parts and connected by buttons along her hemline on her shirt. The fabric is tough and fireproof and easy to move in. The sleeves are long and there's hooks on the end of each sleeve that hooks over her middle fingers so the sleeves don't ride up.

She strapped her guns into the holsters around her thighs and added a belt around her waist before pulling on her boots and stepping from the room. She pulled her hair out of the plait as she walked towards Steve.

They started off in the direction of the kitchens quickly while Lowri began plaiting her hair down her back.

"It's understandable that you kept your secret for so long, I mean, the Red Skull would have either seen you as an opportunity or a threat and he would have targeted you." Steve said, he looked down at Lowri as they walked to the kitchens. "I would have had to save you from one of the Hydra bases."

Lowri smirked, "You would have loved that." She remarked. They reached the kitchens and she grabbed a small bottle of water and a breakfast bar then they headed for the flight deck.

Nat and Clint were loitering by the doorway leadings to the bay where the quin jets were kept and they straightened up when Lowri and Steve approached.

"How are you feeling?" Lowri asked as she and Steve came to a stop in front of Nat and Clint, Lowri looked at Clint and he looked as though he had been dragged through hell and back.

"Being possessed is never a nice feeling, Misfire." Clint replied.

Lowri nodded, "That I can agree with." She said as she led them through the doorway. "The last time someone tried to get into my head, I burned the guy."

"I never wanna see you possessed." Clint remarked as he followed.

"Good thing you weren't around in 1946, then." She noted, she kept her eyes ahead of her as she made her way quickly to her favourite quin jet.

"1946?" Steve asked sharply.

Lowri didn't answer. That year had only been a year after Steve had crashed the _Valkyrie_ into the Arctic.

They broke the crowds that blocked them and they stepped into the jet. There was a young man already inside the jet, quietly repairing something underneath the metal grids. He looked up sharply as Lowri stepped into the jet first. Clint and Nat walked past her quickly, heading for the cockpit to get the jet into the air as soon as possible.

"Hey, you guys aren't authorised to be in here," the young agent stuttered. Steve held one hand up to stop the young agent and gave him a stern and serious look.

"Son," Steve began. Lowri pressed her lips together and glanced down at the floor. "just don't."

The young man's mouth opened and closed a few times before Lowri stepped around Steve said looked at the young agent.

"Franks," Lowri began, his eyes snapped to her and widened. "Do I really need to say anything else?"

"No, Ma'am." The young man said quickly, he darted past Lowri and Steve and jumped off the jet.

"Wheels up!" Clint called.

Steve turned to Lowri and pushed her onto the bench to her right.

"Now, you sit here and eat that. You've had a tough day." Steve ordered. Lowri raised an eyebrow at him but she bit into her breakfast bar.

"I think we've all had a tough day, Cap." She said after she swallowed the first bite of the breakfast bar. The jet rose steadily into the air and shot off towards New York.

"I totally agree with Misfire." Clint remarked from the cockpit.

Steve took a seat beside Lowri and watched her eat. She felt slightly awkward with his eyes on her, but she shrugged them off.

"You know, your age is starting to show." Lowri said before she took the last bite of the breakfast bar.

"What do you mean?" Steve asked, he narrowed his eyes at her.

"Your age is showing. You need to reign in that oldness." She explained, she smiled knowingly, and Steve shook his head at her.

"Alright, I don't know the right things to say anymore." Steve said a little quietly.

"I'm sure you never did back then either." Lowri smirked. She tossed the empty wrapped into the bin and looked up at him. "I recall you called me a beautiful dame and then a woman and then just an officer. What am I to you now?"

"Not an officer." Steve said quickly. He glanced down at his hands in his lap, "You're still a beautiful dame."

Lowri felt her cheeks grow hotter and she looked down at the bottle of water in her hand. She opened the cap and gulped down a few mouthfuls.

"Have I embarrassed you?" Steve asked with a knowing smile.

Lowri looked up at him with half a scowl. "It's been a while since I was called that." She said quietly.

Steve reached over and took her hand in his. "Then I'm glad that I was the one to tell you." Steve said, squeezing her hand. "So, what happened in 1946?"

Lowri's eyes widened and her face cooled off. She looked up and smiled. "A Russian organisation targeted Howard Stark for his bad and dangerous inventions. They were angry over something Howard couldn't control."

"So how come you burned a guy?" Steve asked.

"This doctor used speech to get into someone's mind, to hypnotise them. He controlled what they were thinking and what they were doing, and he got into Howard's mind. He made Howard fly a plane over the VE celebrations in New York in 1946, Howard was going to drop this gas called Midnight Oil. Howard invented it as a way to keep soldiers awake but it has other, undesired effects."

"Did this doctor hurt you?" Steve asked quietly.

"No. But I hurt him. He did try to get into my mind, to warp me against everyone else. But I set my hand on fire and held his mouth shut." Lowri said, she looked away from Steve as she remembered the pain in the Russian's eyes, pain that she caused.

"You really came into your own, didn't you?" Steve asked gently.

"It was down to you, Steve." Lowri said, she looked up at Steve and smiled. "If you hadn't been so slow when the second German assassin came to find you, then I wouldn't have needed to save your life or show my impeccable skills."

Steve chuckled. "Obviously, you haven't lost your confidence." He said.

"Well, maybe I did a long time ago. But now, who can go up against a woman with unnatural abilities?" Lowri asked.

"Aliens." Nat called back to her.

"Okay, well I hope they're flammable." Lowri replied.

"Loki isn't." Nat called.

"That's a mere setback." Lowri called back.

* * *

 **That's all for this week, more to follow next week. I hope you're all enjoying!**

 **Read, Review, Follow & Favourite!**


	16. Chapter 16

**Massive apologies for missing last week's update, I was very busy with work among other things... no worries though, as I will be updating twice today! There's two more chapters after this one, making the total to 18 chapters.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own any Marvel characters that may be used or any Marvel storylines or arcs.**

 **Claimer: I only own the character Elizabeth Jones (Lowri Jones and any other names she uses) and her story past, present and future.**

* * *

 _Recap_

 _"So how come you burned a guy?" Steve asked._

 _"This doctor used speech to get into someone's mind, to hypnotise them. He controlled what they were thinking and what they were doing, and he got into Howard's mind. He made Howard fly a plane over the VE celebrations in New York in 1946, Howard was going to drop this gas called Midnight Oil. Howard invented it as a way to keep soldiers awake but it has other, undesired effects."_

 _"Did this doctor hurt you?" Steve asked quietly._

 _"No. But I hurt him. He did try to get into my mind, to warp me against everyone else. But I set my hand on fire and held his mouth shut." Lowri said, she looked away from Steve as she remembered the pain in the Russian's eyes, ain that she caused._

 _"You really came into your own, didn't you?" Steve asked gently._

 _"It was all down to you, Steve." Lowri said, she looked up at Steve and smiled. "If you hadn't been so slow when the second German assassin came to find you, then I wouldn't have needed to save your life or show my impeccable skills."_

 _Steve chuckled. "Obviously, you haven't lost your confidence." He said._

 _"Well, maybe I did a long time ago. But now, who can go up against a woman with unnatural abilities?" Lowri asked._

 _"Aliens." Nat called back to her._

 _"Okay, well, I hope they're flammable." Lowri replied._

 _"Loki isn't." Nat called._

 _"That's a mere setback." Lowri called back._

* * *

The jet soared closer and closer to New York and right in the centre of it, where Stark Tower is, was a bright blue beam shooting right up into the air.

"Well, this is kinda familiar." Lowri noted as she rose to her feet and headed to the back of the cockpit.

"It sorta does." Clint added.

"What's those things flying around that?" Steve asked, pointing at the blobs flying around the Tower.

"Not a clue. Guess we'll find out when we get there." Lowri said.

Lowri felt the anticipation of a fight deep in her bones and her fingertips tingled. She knew this was going to be a long and hard fight, they were going up against a demi-God and an army of aliens which is something none of them had ever done.

There's no strategy to be planned because their only informant of alien activity is AWOL, so they were going in blind.

"Stark." Nat said into the communications, they were heading over the city quickly heading for Stark Tower. "We're on your three, headed northeast." Nat reported.

" _What, did you stop for drive-thru_?" Tony asked in his usual sarcastic way. " _Swing up Park, I'm going to lay them out for you._ "

Clint lowered the jet and they swooped in between the tall buildings and they sped towards the tower.

As they neared, they had a better view of the blue beam which turned out to be a portal to another world, much like the portal that brought Loki to this planet, but this time it was bringing hundreds and hundreds of alien fighters, whizzing about on strange contraptions, shooting at things and blowing things up.

"Better get the big guns ready." Lowri said quietly. She leant against the back of the chairs and looked out the window. Steve was just behind her, looking out the window too.

Clint swung them up Park and Tony shot past them in his new Iron Man suit with a long line of Chitauri soldiers flying behind him, following closely.

Nat engaged the guns and opened fire on the Chitauri and just before the dust cleared to reveal the stone wall, Clint pulled up sharply.

Clint kept the control stick back and flew the jet up the side of Stark Tower and as they rose, they all saw Loki and Thor fighting on the balcony.

"At least we've got Thor back. That's some advantage." Steve noted. While Thor stumbled backwards from Loki, seemingly injured, Loki aimed the sceptre at the jet and shot one of the blue beams. The shot hit one of the jet's engines in the wings and the jet began falling straight away. The jet tilted backwards and began spiralling.

"Nose down!" Lowri yelled, the warning sound coming from the cockpit told them the jet was losing too much height and speed. "Nose down, Clint! We're gonna stall!" Clint was too late to save the stall and the jet spiralled out of control. Steve fell backwards but he quickly grabbed onto the side of the jet.

Lowri lost her grip on the back of the chairs and fell backwards too, she couldn't grip onto anything else and she headed for the back of the jet quickly.

Steve grabbed hold of her and pulled her against him, he wound his arm around her waist and his hand splayed on her stomach, holding her firmly against his side. Her hands were braced on his chest and she looked up at him, very aware of how close they are.

The jet crash landed onto the ground hard and the whole aircraft juddered violently as they hit the earth. Steve held onto Lowri tightly so when the jet crashed hard, both of them remained upright.

Clint and Nat jumped out of their seats and headed for the back of the jet immediately as Steve and Lowri untangled themselves. Nat glanced at them and smirked as she passed by.

Steve and Lowri were just behind Clint and Nat as they got out of the jet and straight away, they jogged onto the nearby road to see what was going on.

"We gotta get back up there!" Steve yelled as he started off at a run, heading for Stark Tower.

He led Lowri, Clint and Nat up the road and towards Stark Tower, they had to climb a set of stairs to reach the road just in front of the Tower. Civilians dashed past them with anxious, worried and scared looks on their faces, some of them were covered in dirt and rubble where they had been caught under fire by the Chitauri, others were relatively clean and others had blood on them.

The portal above them was wide open and Chitauri kept on spilling from within the large hole in space on their flying ships. A loud roar that shook Lowri to her bones was heard coming from the portal and within seconds, the portal was filled with this enormous creature, sort of like a whale but flying in the air.

"Stark! Are you seeing this?" Steve yelled into the comms. His voice buzzed in Lowri's ear but she couldn't take her eyes of the flying beast.

" _Seeing, still working on believing. Where's Banner? Has he shown up yet_?" Tony asked, his voice buzzed in Lowri's ear too.

"Banner?" Steve repeated.

" _Just keep me posted._ " Tony ordered.

It was chaos. There was no order to the attacks and a lot of civilians were getting hurt because of it. they were rushing as quick as they could to get as far away from the city as they could but the Chitauri are fast on their flying ships, they flew up and down the roads, blowing them up.

"We've got civilians still trapped up here." Clint stated quickly as the Chitauri army began bombing nearby roads and the road they were on.

The four of them dove for cover beside abandoned cars and pulled out their weapons. Clint brought out his bow and arrows and quickly set about firing them into Chitauri soldiers that edged closer, Nat and Lowri pulled out their guns and immediately began shooting.

"They're fish in a barrel down there." Steve said, he looked down at the road where they had parked their jet. As Steve brought himself back into safety of the car, Lowri caught a glance of Steve's stern face as he made plans in his head.

She had only ever seen his style of leadership in film and media but never in real life, not really. But now, she was _finally_ seeing his leading style.

Steve looked back down at the civilians wilfully, he wanted to go down there.

"We got this." Nat said, she glanced at Clint and he nodded at her, then Nat turned back to Steve and Lowri. "It's good. Go."

"Are you sure you can hold them off?" Steve asked, he looked at Nat and Clint and then he looked at Lowri as if he was torn.

"Captain," Clint said, drawing Steve's attention to him. "It would be my genuine pleasure." Clint finished. He loaded his bow with another arrow and took out one of the Chitauri soldiers.

Steve got up and held up his shield as he stepped around the car. Lowri got to her feet too and followed him but he turned back and tried to push her back to the car.

"What are you doing?" Steve asked.

"What are _you_ doing?" Lowri asked, she narrowed her eyes at him as she looked up at him. He narrowed his eyes at her too and tilted his head.

"You stay up here and help Barton and Romanoff." Steve said.

"I'm coming with you. Nat and Clint are alright up here." Lowri replied. Steve looked like he was going to talk back but Lowri cut him off before he could begin, "You're the one who wanted me out of the office."

Steve stared at her with his mouth dropped open and she stalked past him. She slid her guns into the holsters once more and she pulled herself up onto the side of the bridge. Lowri turned back to Steve and smirked at his stunned look.

"Are you gonna stand there all day? Or are you gonna fight these damned aliens?" Lowri asked before stepping off the bridge.

She summoned her fire and flew up to the level of the flying ships and she directed a fireball at one of them and she was delighted when they caught fire easily and burned aggressively.

Steve had jumped down onto an abandoned yellow school bus just underneath the bridge and he was quickly running down the road towards where the police force had set up a barricade.

He landed on a police car and spoke urgently to two of them standing close to the barricade but it looked as though the police men weren't listening.

Lowri tackled one of the Chitauri from a nearby flying ship and cut out her fire as she tumbled with the Chitauri soldier down and down. She landed on her back on the bonnet of the police car, making both the policemen jump out of their skins, and giving Steve a scare too.

The Chitauri soldier landed on top of her, it hissed and growled at her and then brought out a long, sharp knife and tried to plunge it into her chest. Lowri used the back of her forearm to block the Chitauri's knife arm and then Steve's shield knocked the Chitauri's head backwards and it was thrown from her with its neck broken.

Steve offered her his hand silently but he had a knowing smile on his face. Her actions certainly caught the attention of the policemen. She took his hand and he lifted her onto the car beside him and in the space of a moment, there was a massive explosion as the Chitauri soldiers still flying in the air began bombing the street.

Obviously, they weren't too happy that one of their own had been killed.

Lowri sent up a wall of fire, blocking the dust and debris from hitting them and Steve handled the attacking Chitauri soldiers with ease. She turned back to Steve after dropping the fire wall and she spied the two policemen turned from them, one of them speaking into his radio, carrying out Steve's orders.

Steve dropped the Chitauri weapon that he held and jumped down from the car and turned back to her, with a smile he offered her his hand once more and she took it. He held her hand as she jumped down.

"That caused a bit of a scene." Lowri said as they walked away from the scene they had just caused.

"All down to you falling onto a cop car." Steve said with a smile.

"I like the theatrics." Lowri noted. "Besides, they weren't listening to you, and now they are."

"Thank you. And that was cool, what you did with that fire wall." Steve said. Lowri smiled at him.

"Do you know why I was the one that was selected to travel with you to New York in 1942?" Lowri asked. She walked around an abandoned car and looked up at Steve.

He slowed his pace and looked at her, "No." He said gently.

"Peggy suggested that I travel with you because she knew what I could do and I think Chester just wanted someone to travel with you. But he put me with you at that safe house because he knew I must have had some sort of field training and he was sure that nothing would happen. But Peggy told me that I was your bodyguard."

Steve's eyes widened and he chuckled. "You? My bodyguard?"

"Well, I did save both of our lives." Lowri pointed out.

"Very true." Steve said, they reached the yellow bus that was just under the bridge. "Well, I am glad that it was you in the car with me. Otherwise, we wouldn't have had that god-awful and embarrassing conversation." He jumped up onto a nearby car and turned back to her. "Do you need any help, _dame_?"

Lowri laughed as she took his hand and pulled her up onto the car. "Oh, that was an entertaining conversation." She said as he gave her a boost up onto the bus.

"Well, I'm glad you found it entertaining. It was scary for me. Do you not realise that you can be a little bit intimidating sometimes?" Steve asked as he got up beside her.

"Me? Intimidating?" She asked innocently. Her smile betrayed her and Steve shook his head at her. They pulled themselves up onto the road where Nat and Clint were still fighting the Chitauri soldiers.

Steve and Lowri dashed across the road and Thor landed beside them as they met up with Nat and Clint.

"What's the story upstairs?" Steve asked.

"The power surrounding the Cube is impenetrable." Thor stated.

" _Thor's right. We gotta deal with these guys._ " Tony added.

"How do we do this?" Nat asked, the question was one on everyone's tongues, everyone except for Thor has never faced anything like this and it was completely new.

"As a team." Steve answered firmly. He looked around the group quickly and he gave off the look of a leader and Lowri liked that.

"I have unfinished business with Loki." Thor said simply.

"Yeah? Well get in line." Clint said as he counted his remaining arrows.

Lowri pressed her lips together and surveyed the scene. If these two were only fighting for revenge, then they may be clouded, and she should definitely be in that line too, given the past few days. She shook that feeling off and looked up.

"Forget your little tiffs with him." Lowri said, both eyes went to her. "Right now, there's an army of aliens flying over us and we need to work together to keep them contained."

"Elizabeth's right." Steve said slowly, "Loki is gonna keep the fight focused on us, and that's what we need. Without him, these things will run wild. We got Stark on top, Elizabeth is gonna join him. They're gonna need us to-" Steve was on a roll but he was cut off by the rumble of a motorcycle approaching slowly.

Lowri caught sight of a dishevelled Bruce Banner, wearing clothes that were far too big for him and he looked pale, grey and exhausted. He stopped the bike and got off, he headed for them quickly but warily.

"So," Banner began as he came to a stop a few paces away from the group. He looked around him and then looked back at the group. "This all seems horrible." He added.

"I've seen worse." Nat replied. She shifted her shoulders uncomfortably and kept her eyes trained on Banner.

"Sorry." Banner said, his voice gentle and filled with remorse. Nat must have got hurt by Banner a few hours ago.

"Stark, we got him." Steve said urgently.

" _Banner_?" Tony asked hopefully.

"Just like you said." Steve noted.

" _Then tell him to suit up. I'm bringing the party to you._ " Tony said and then Lowri's stomach dropped.

"Tony, your parties always end up in a disaster." Lowri said. Any party that Lowri had been to of Tony's always ended up in something dramatic happening.

" _Well, you're gonna love this._ " Tony replied.

A second later, they spied Tony flying around a corner just down the long road and just a few feet behind him was one of those whale-like-creatures, following closely.

"I don't see how that's a party." Nat said slowly.

This huge creature was approaching them with an impressive speed and Lowri felt her fingertips tingle.

Steve braced his shoulders and lifted his shield closer to him as he looked at this huge thing. Banner turned away from the group and began walking calmly towards the alien whale, drawing the attention to him.

"Doctor Banner." Steve called, Banner turned back to the group as Steve called him. "Now might be a really good time for you to get angry." Steve added.

Banner had a smile on his face. "That's my secret, Captain. I'm always angry." Banner said, he turned from the group as the alien whale approached. Tony flew overhead and turned in mid-air to watch as Banner drew his arm back simultaneously as he transformed into a huge, green rage filled creature. His fist slammed into the alien whale's face and the entire body just crumpled.

The body flew upwards into the air and began falling towards the group as it tilted forwards. Various bits of the body armour flew from the creature and fell down on them.

" _Hold on!_ " Tony yelled, Lowri couldn't take her eyes from the alien whale and she stood in the middle of the road, unmoving while everyone else took cover. She felt an arm wrap around her waist and she was pulled under a familiar shield.

Lowri automatically reached for Steve and held to him as Tony aimed an explosive at the alien whale and caused the bit in the air to explode and bits of flesh and armour rained down on them.

The Chitauri foot soldier that clung to the buildings above them began roaring and hissing at them in disproval. Banner roared back, just as loud and just as echoing.

Steve got to his feet quickly and Lowri was just behind him. They stepped into a circle with everyone else. Tony landed and stepped in too.

"Guys." Nat said warningly. Her eyes were looking up at the portal while more and more Chitauri soldier came through.

" _Call it, Captain._ " Tony said.

Steve looked back at the group. "All right, listen up. Until we can get that portal closed, our priority is containment. Barton," Steve began, he turned to Clint. "I want you on that roof, eyes on everything. Call out any patterns and strays." He ordered, "Stark, you got the perimeter. Anything that gets more than three blocks out, you turn it back or you turn it to ash." Steve commanded.

"Can you give me a lift?" Clint asked Tony.

"Right. Better clench up, Legolas." Tony remarked. He stepped up beside Clint and held him to his side before flying off up to the roof, dropped Clint off at the room and then he shot up into the sky to attack the flying Chitauri soldiers.

Lowri kept her eyes on Steve and she watched as he moved fluidly, giving out the commands as if this was natural to him. She now knew personally how easy it was to follow him into battle.

"Thor, you gotta try and bottleneck that portal, slow them down. You got the lightning, light those suckers up." Steve ordered. Thor swung his hammer in circles and nodded before shooting into air and landing on top of a tall building with a spike at the top, very close to the portal. Steve turned to Nat, "You and me, we stay here on the ground. We keep the fighting here." Steve turned to Banner, "And Hulk," Steve began, he pointed to the Chitauri soldiers above them, jeering at them, "Smash."

Banner grinned wickedly and then shot into the air with a loud roar.

Steve turned from Lowri to say something to Nat and Lowri placed her hands on her hips and looked at his back.

"You forgot me." Lowri said slowly.

Steve turned to look at her and a smile grew on his face as he stepped closer to her, he put on hand on her shoulder and looked into her eyes.

"Use that fire of yours and burn those things to hell." Steve commanded.

Her smile radiated and it grew wider before she turned from him and began running towards the edge of the bridge.

She summoned her fire as she threw herself off the bridge, she was eager to see how much damage she could cause to the Chitauri soldiers that got in her way.

Lowri boarded the flying ships and took them down with her fire, she jumped ship before the Chitauri soldiers could attack her and if she didn't get to them, they were taken out by either Clint or Banner.

There were a few times when the Chitauri managed to stab and slash at her with their knives and they sometimes managed to get their hands on her and throw her from the flying ship before she could do any damage.

She was cut and bruised all over her arms and torso but she managed to kill more than the amount that hurt her.

Now that Lowri was flying around, those that did shoot the blue beams didn't hit her at all and for that, she was thankful. She couldn't deal with an injury like that at this time.

Lowri shot towards one of the flying ships and flew over it, she was aiming to hover over it and set it on fire but she was hit in the stomach as she flew over and she was thrown backwards onto the flying ship.

She almost rolled off but she clung on and pulled herself on. The two Chitauri soldiers turned to her, but the one at the front was the one controlling the flying ship turned back to control it while the one at the back, pulled its knife out and wielded it at her.

Lowri ignored the blood dripping from her side and she kicked the legs of her attacker out from under it. Lowri fell to the floor and used her feet to push the Chitauri from the ship and she crouched on the balls of her feet and turned to the Chitauri soldier at the front and quickly grabbed the knife from where it had fallen to the floor. She sliced the Chitauri soldier's neck and he bled out, then fell to the earth.

She turned to leave the flying ship before it could fly out of control and she spied Loki flying away from her with a sickening smile on his face. It was he who had shot the blue beam at her. She threw herself from the flying ship and summoned her fire but nothing came to her.

For a long moment, it was as though she was frozen in mid-air and she saw Loki hold up a hand and she realised he was the one control her fire. How is that even possible?

Lowri felt heavy in the air and then Loki opened his fist and she dropped. Her fire wouldn't come to her, there was nothing she could do slow down her fall.

She fell far too quickly and she saw the looming yellow bus, welcoming her. She landed with a painful thump and the metal bus crumpled around her.

Her breath escaped her lips and her eyesight dimmed as pain exploded everywhere.

* * *

 **Again, massive apologies for not updating in the last week. I did have enough time to go out on a date and the guy I went with took me to see the new Avengers Infinity War (good choice, right?)**

 **The second chapter of the day will be up later on. The last chapter of this story will be updated next week!**

 **Read, Review, Follow & Favourite!**


	17. Chapter 17

**Here is the second instalment for the day... hope you all enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own any Marvel characters that may be used or any Marvel storylines or arcs.**

 **Claimer: I only own the character Elizabeth Jones (Lowri Jones and any other names she uses) and her story past, present and future.**

* * *

 _Recap_

 _She was cut and bruised all over her arms and torso but she managed to kill more than the amount that hurt her._

 _Now that Lowri was flying around, those that did shoot the blue beams didn't hit her at all and for that, she was thankful. She couldn't deal with an injury like that at this time._

 _Lowri shot towards one of the flying ships and flew over it, she was aiming to hover over it and set it on fire but she was hit in the stomach as she flew over and she was thrown backwards onto the flying ship._

 _She almost rolled off but she clung on and pulled herself on. The two Chitauri soldiers turned to her, but the one at the front was the one controlling the flying ship turned back to control it while the one at the back, pulled its knife out and wielded it at her._

 _Lowri ignored the blood dripping from her side and she kicked the legs of her attacker out from under it. Lowri fell to the floor and used her feet to push the Chitauri from the ship and she crouched on the balls of her feet and turned to the Chitauri soldier at the front and quickly grabbed the knife from where it had fallen to the floor. She sliced the Chitauri soldier's neck and he bled out, then fell to the earth._

 _She turned to leave the flying ship before it could fly out of control and she spied Loki flying away from her with a sickening smile on his face. It was he who had shot the blue beam at her. She threw herself from the flying ship and summoned her fire but nothing came to her._

 _For a long moment, it was as though she was frozen in mid-air and she saw Loki hold up a hand and she realised he was the one control her fire. How is that even possible?_

 _Lowri felt heavy in the air and then Loki opened his fist and she dropped. Her fire wouldn't come to her, there was nothing she could do slow down her fall._

 _She fell far too quickly and she saw the looming yellow bus, welcoming her. She landed with a painful thump and the metal bus crumpled around her._

 _Her breath escaped her lips and her eyesight dimmed as pain exploded everywhere._

* * *

" _Shit_!" Tony's voice rang in Steve's ear. " _Lowri's down._ "

"What do you mean, 'Lowri's down'? What happened? Stark?" Steve asked urgently. He stood up straighter.

" _She fell. Loki did something to her fire and she couldn't stop herself from falling. She's breathing. I've moved her somewhere safe._ " Stark reported.

Steve launched himself away from the dead Chitauri soldiers surrounding him and pulled himself up onto the bridge where Agent Romanoff was. She spun to meet him with one of the Chitauri weapons in her hands and ready to use against him.

"As long as you've got her somewhere safe, that's fine." Steve replied.

Steve drew up his shield but dropped it when she exhaled and she relaxed. Agent Romanoff lowered the weapon and slumped against the car beside her.

"I don't know where she is, but she's tough. She's survived worse than that fall. She'll be alright." Agent Romanoff breathed.

"Stark's moved her to a safe place." Steve said as he stepped closer.

"Well, none of this is gonna mean a damn thing if we don't close that portal." Agent Romanoff said, she breathed out heavily and placed one of her hands on the car behind her.

Steve turned and looked at the portal that hung above the Stark Tower where there were plenty of Chitauri soldiers pouring from the portal.

"Our biggest guns couldn't touch it." Steve noted.

"Well, maybe it's not all about guns." Agent Romanoff said, she pursed her lips and looked up at the Stark Tower.

"If you wanna get up there, you're gonna need a ride." Steve said, he turned back around to look at Agent Romanoff.

She looked away from the Stark Tower and her eyes locked onto those flying ships that were heading their way.

"I got a ride." Agent Romanoff said, she tossed the Chitauri weapon in her hand away from her and it clanked onto the ground, she pushed herself away from the car and she strode to the other side of the bridge and turned to face Steve. "I could use a boost though."

Steve looked back at the flying ships and then looked back at Agent Romanoff.

"Are you sure about this?" Steve asked, he pulled his shield in front of him and he crouched slightly on the ground, bracing himself.

"Yeah. It's gonna be fun." Agent Romanoff said but she didn't sound so sure. Instead, she pulled a face at him, looked up and breathed out heavily before taking a running start. She headed for the car she had just been leaning against, jumped up onto the bonnet and jumped onto Steve's shield. She landed two feet onto the shield and he pushed hard up and she was launched into the air.

Agent Romanoff caught onto the edge of one of the flying ships and was jetted off.

Immediately, Steve's attention was drawn to the numerous Chitauri soldiers approaching him from across the bridge. They roared, chanted and hissed at him as they neared.

Steve had to admire the way they didn't care if they died, these were the ultimate soldiers, fighting for their chosen leader right up until death.

One Chitauri soldier after another fell as Steve's feet as he swiftly moved through the swarm of soldiers heading his way. By the time he had gotten through this squad, he ended up on the road closest to the Stark Tower.

This road was wider and capable of holding more Chitauri soldiers, more than Steve could handle by himself.

When there was a lull in the attacks, he surveyed the road in front of him and his heart almost fell at the sight of the numerous Chitauri soldiers surging towards him. He tried to think of a way out of this, but there didn't seem to be a logical way out.

And then Stark swooped in and landed as he aimed one of his lasers along one line of Chitauri soldiers, he killed a fair few and turned to Steve.

"Shield!" Stark yelled and Steve turned to see Stark with both of his hands raised. Steve lifted his shield and Stark set his lasers onto shield, the lasers bounced off the shield and killed the Chitauri soldiers just in front of him.

Steve angle the shield differently and took even more Chitauri soldiers down. Steve called out his thanks and jumped in the air to kick one of the soldiers down. Steve slammed his fist into the face.

More Chitauri soldiers rushed at him but this time he was able to push them back. The last one that attacked, proved to be harder to take down. Steve was knocked back again and again, he fell and he threw his shield at the chest of the soldier attacking him and that killed the Chitauri soldier.

" _Captain, at the bank on 42_ _nd_ _past Madison. They've cornered a lot of civilians in there."_ Barton reported.

Steve slowly got to his feet, feeling all his muscles aching but he pushed on.

"I'm on it." Steve replied in a breathy tone. Steve bent to pick up his shield, grimaced as the muscles in his stomach protested and he began jogging his way down to the bank on 42nd.

The doors were barricaded from the inside, so Steve jumped onto a car, then onto a bus and he rolled through one of the windows on the building.

Quickly, Steve took in the scene, dozens and dozens of civilians stood on a lower floor, all looking petrified and stood above them were three Chitauri soldiers.

All three turned when they heard the window crashed and one of them held a strange object in their hands. It expanded and lit up, and began beeping. A bomb.

Acting on his instincts, Steve threw his shield with careful aim at the Chitauri soldier holding the beeping bomb and the shield knocked the soldier out clean. The two remaining Chitauri soldiers spun to face Steve and began shooting their strange weapons at him.

Steve ducked behind an overturned table and then booted it hard at the two Chitauri soldiers, the one at the front caught the full force of the table and was knocked down.

Steve jumped back up and jumped over the table and he attacked the last Chitauri soldier. He ducked a poorly aimed punch and get a few of his own in before wrapping his arms around the soldier's neck and Steve snapped it.

The body fell out of Steve's arms and slumped over the balcony, it fell into the midst of the civilians that had been watching with horror-struck expressions.

Steve stepped closer to the balcony and laid his hands on the stone rail. "Everyone, clear out!" Steve yelled but a few of the women in the crowd below gasped and pointed and then all of a sudden, a pair of burly arms were around Steve's neck, squeezing tight and choking him.

Steve pulled his elbow back sharply into the Chitauri's gut and the soldier faltered, giving Steve time to react. There was a slight scuffle and Steve's mask was ripped off, but Steve launched himself over the back of the soldier and he got away from the soldier.

He rolled and landed by his shield just as the beeping bomb picked up the pace and the remaining Chitauri soldier lobbed the bomb at Steve. It gave Steve enough time to jump into the air and be covered by his shield fully when the bomb connected with the shield and detonated. Steve was flung out of the window and he landed a story down.

Steve landed on a car just outside of the bank, he had landed on his stomach and he was stunned. The car moulded around him as he landed and for a second, all Steve wanted to do was lie there.

Everything that was aching before is definitely aching now, and there's roaring in his ears from the explosion and he feels dazed. He knows that he needs to get up but he doesn't want to.

Steve moved slowly, he got down from the car and he heard Barton's voice in his ear, reporting a large group of Chitauri soldiers gathering a few blocks over.

Thor was busy battling this group of Chitauri, his lightning was useful against the soldiers but even he was lagging in this tiresome fight.

Steve's arrival made things much easier for Thor, the Super Soldier was still fighting fit, despite a little tired and aching, but it was clear that Steve couldn't push himself further for much longer.

Steve knocked one Chitauri soldier back with his shield and it fell at his feet, Steve turned and aimed his shield at another soldier and then out of nowhere, a bluebeam came from one of the Chitauri weapons and hit him square in the stomach. it stunned him and sent him crashing to the floor.

Slowly, Steve raised himself up onto his knees and pressed a hand to his stomach, fearing that the shot had ripped through his uniform and opened a wound in his stomach, like Loki had done to Elizabeth just hours before, but he was glad to see that there was no blood, no gash in his uniform. The shot had merely knocked him down and stunned him.

Thor let out a cry of rage and knocked a large car towards the remaining Chitauri soldiers and knocked them all down except for one but Thor threw his hammer at the last solider and killed him.

Steve stayed on his knees, breathing in and out slowly, taking this lull in the battle to gather himself.

Thor turned back to Steve with a serious look on his face and he offered Steve a hand to help him to his feet once more.

"Are you ready for another bout?" Thor asked, he kept an eye on the Chitauri soldiers that began gathering around them once more,

Steve looked up at Thor and then spotted the gathering Chitauri soldiers. He kept one hand to his stomach and took Thor's hand to get up.

"What, are you getting sleepy?" Steve asked, he tried to laugh it off but his stomach hurt too much to laugh.

Thor smiled at him and summoned his hammer.

" _I can close it. Can anybody copy? I can shut the portal down._ " Agent Romanoff said, her voice sounded in Steve's ears and he immediately straightened up.

Her words gave everyone hope, if they can close the portal, then they can easily wipe out the remaining Chitauri soldiers.

Steve and Thor shared a quick look before Steve looked back up at the looming portal.

"Do it." Steve ordered quickly.

" _No, wait._ " Stark put in. Steve silently cursed Stark for butting in. They needed to close the portal to stop more soldiers falling through and causing more havoc and pain.

"Stark, those things are still coming." Steve said.

" _I got a nuke coming in. it's gonna blow in less than a minute._ " Stark said, there was a moment's silence to let the news settle in. " _And I know just where to put it._ "

"Stark, you know that's a one-way trip." Stark said.

" _Save the rest for the turn, J._ " Stark said, there was another pause. " _Someone tell Lowri that I finally said her name? She's in the doorway of a bakery just off the bridge._ "

Steve's stomach shifted uncomfortably as he waited with Thor, surrounded by plenty of Chitauri gathering and moving closer as Stark flew overhead with the nuke. Stark flew up the side of the Stark Tower, heading right for the portal and then he disappeared, nuke and all.

The next few moments were horrible. There was a massive explosion in the skies on the other side of the portal and then all of the remaining Chitauri soldiers on the ground with them just dropped dead like flies.

But Stark was still on the other side and the explosion looked like it was getting too close to the portal opening and bits of debris would start raining down on them.

Thor and Steve shared another look before looking back up at the portal with worry knowing at them.

Steve hated to be the man to do it, but he had to.

"Close it." Steve ordered quietly.

A moment later, the blue stem coming from the portal down to the Stark Tower simply shot up into the sky and the sky seemed to stitch itself back up as the portal retreated upwards quickly.

Just as the sky repaired itself, a figure of red and gold fell through, making relief soar through everyone who was watching.

"Son of a gun." Steve muttered as Stark fell.

But there was something strange about the way that Stark was falling, his limbs were all over the place and it was as though he was spinning out of control.

"He's not slowing down." Thor said urgently, he began to swing his hammer so he could take flight and catch Stark but something huge and green streaked across the sky and grabbed hold of Stark.

The fall was slowed when Banner hit a building and slid down slowly, he threw himself off the building and he hit the ground on the bridge just in front of Thor and Steve, landing on his back with Stark on his chest. Banner threw Stark off as soon as he landed.

Stark lay on his side, unmoving. Steve and Thor moved towards them as Banner got to his feet and turned to Stark.

Thor easily turned Stark onto his back and he ripped the metal mask from Stark's face.

"Is he breathing?" Steve asked as he moved closer. Steve got down on his knees beside Stark and bent to listen for his breath but as he turned his head to look down at Stark's chest, he saw the light from his Arc Reactor that kept him alive was out.

Steve sat back on his heels and looked down at Stark, a torrent of thoughts rushed through his head at once. No matter how much this man actually got on his nerves, he's still the son of a great man, the son of a friend.

Banner let out this gut-wrenching roar that echoed around the buildings, not only did Steve jump out of his skin at the ferocity of the roar but Stark let out a sharp yelp and began breathing heavily. Banner roared again, this time, even louder.

"What the hell?" Stark asked, he looked around the group. "What just happened? Please tell me nobody kissed me."

Steve leant back on his heels once more and breathed out heavily.

"We won." Steve breathed. He felt happy and relieved knowing that Stark was alive and back to his usual sarcastic self but all of that came crashing down when he remembered that Elizabeth was still out there, somewhere, possibly injured or worse.

Lowri's eyes flew open suddenly, her eyes searched the beautiful, calm and silent sky before she realised that every bone in her body felt as though they had been through a grinder, that every muscle in her body felt as though she had been punched over a thousand times.

She looked around herself, tilting her head to the side to see that she was in a doorway with some baked goods in the windows.

She was lying on her back and she almost passed out from the amount of pain she was in just by sitting up.

What had happened? There had been aliens attacking New York, the Avengers had come together for the first time.

A roar shook the sky, rocketing against the buildings around her and it hurt her ears, she clamped her hands over her ears and curled around herself, groaning as she jolted sore muscles.

As the roar echoed around her, she used the wall behind her to get to her feet shakily with a hand pressed to her ribs.

She looked around her, instead of seeing hundreds and hundreds of Chitauri soldiers streaming through the streets of New York, she saw only dead Chitauri bodies. Lowri stared in amazement, what had happened while she was out?

Lowri pushed herself from the wall and walked a few paces before losing her balance and she collapsed to her knees, still with her hand pressed to her stomach. She pressed one of her hands against the tarmac and she breathed out slowly.

Another roar echoed through the street and Lowri practically jumped out of her skin. It sounded as though the roar was only up on the bridge above her.

Lowri got to her feet again, shakily but more stable this time, she stumbled and tripped as she walked but she gained her footing as she neared a footpath leading up to the bridge.

As she reached the top of the footpath, she spied four figures to the near left of her. One was lying on the floor, this was Tony, he looked extremely exhausted, as did they all. Steve was on his knees beside Tony and Thor was stood off to the side, these had their backs to Lowri but Banner was facing her.

It was so strange to see Banner as the Hulk, still with the anger only a few layers down.

She neared, stepping quietly. Her ribs still ached and she was sure she had a limp. She could hear Tony talking as she neared and she smiled when she realised it was his usual gibberish.

"Let's just not come in tomorrow. Let's take a day. Have you ever tried shawarma? There's a shawarma joint about two blocks away from here. I don't know what it is but I wanna try it." Tony rambled off.

Lowri smiled as she neared, "I fancy a bit of shawarma." Lowri said, her hand was still pressed to the bottom of her rib cage and she watched as Steve spun on his heels and his eyes looked up at her eagerly and happily.

"Elizabeth." Steve breathed, he got to his feet sharpish and met her in four steps. He tugged her into his arms and held her tight to him but he released when Lowri yelped as her ribs were jolted.

He looked down at her with concern written in his eyes but he didn't say anything.

"I'm alright." Lowri said quietly. Steve's shoulders slumped and he dropped his hands from her. She looked up into his eyes. "A little sore, but I'll live."

Behind them, Tony was now sitting up and looking at them.

"I always thought her name was Lowri." Tony remarked to Thor.

Thor ignored Tony's remark and he looked at Steve. "We are not finished yet." Thor said, looking right at Steve.

"And then shawarma after?" Tony asked hopefully. Thor looked down and helped Tony to his feet.

"Once this is over, we can eat all the shawarma you want." Thor said.

Steve turned to Lowri again and placed a hand on her back, "It's over. We've got to get Loki now." Steve said to her.

Lowri smiled gently. "He's the one that got me." Lowri said, she knotted her eyebrows. "He can control my fire."

"Loki is full of tricks, I doubt even he knows what he can control himself." Thor stated.

"Barton." Steve said, "Do you copy?"

" _Yeah, Cap. I copy._ " Clint replied.

"Loki is in Stark Tower, we're on our way up. Fancy meeting us up there?" Steve asked.

" _I'll be right over._ " Clint replied.

* * *

 **The last chapter of this story will be posted next week then the new story will be published in two weeks time.**

 **I'm stumped for names for the next story, it's set during Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Any suggestions would be appreciated!**

 **Read, Review, Follow & Favourite!**


	18. Chapter 18

**Happy Tuesday, my lovely readers! Also, Happy Birthday to me!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own any Marvel characters that may be used or any Marvel storylines or arcs.**

 **Claimer: I only own the character Elizabeth Jones (Lowri Jones and any other names she uses) and her story past, present and future.**

 **A/N: Chapter 18 is the last chapter in The Woman Out Of Time: The 21t Century but I will be publishing a new story based on the events of Captain America: The Winter Soldier next week but I haven't decided on a title yet.**

 **I have enjoyed writing these stories and I hope I can continue to do so for some time, reading the reviews that people have left and seeing how many people have favorited and followed my stories brings me happiness as I know I am bringing at least some joy to the world!**

* * *

 _Recap_

 _"Elizabeth." Steve breathed, he got to his feet sharpish and met her in four steps. He tugged her into his arms and hed her tight to him but he released her when Lowri yelped a her ribs were jolted._

 _He looked down at her with concern written in his eye but he didn't say anything._

 _"I'm alright." Lowri said quietly. Steve's shoulders slumped and he dropped his hands from her. She looked up into his eyes. "A little sore but I'll live."_

 _Behind them, Tony was now sitting up and looking at them._

 _"I always thought her name was Lowri." Tony remarked to Thor._

 _Thor ignored Tony's remark and he looked at Steve. "We are not finished yet." Thor said, looking right at Steve._

 _"And then shawarma after?" Tony asked hopefully. Thor looked down and helped Tony to his feet._

 _"Once this is over, we can eat all the shawarma you want." Thor said._

 _Steve turned to Lowri again and placed a hand on her back, "It's over. We've go to get Loki now." Steve said to her._

 _Lowri smiled gently. "He's the one that got me." Lowri said, she knotted her eyebrows. "He can control my fire."_

 _"Loki is full of tricks, I doubt even he knows what he can control himself." Thor stated._

 _"Barton." Steve said, "Do you copy?_

 _"_ Yeah, Cap, I copy. _" Clint replied._

 _"Loki is in Stark Tower, we're on our way up. Fancy meeting us up there?" Steve asked._

 _"_ I'll be right over _." Clint replied._

* * *

They entered the building, all except for Banner, and got into the lift. Steve and Lowri stood at the back and they shared a glance every so often.

Her ribs still ached and she knew that they would hurt for the next few days, she did fall a fair bit.

The lift went right up to the top and up there, Loki was still unconscious on the floor and Banner was standing over him, still as the Hulk. Nat was up at the bar and she had helped herself to a glass of whiskey and Clint was beside her, staring at Loki.

Tony's home had been destroyed. Two of the windows were shattered and the tiles on the floor was broken.

"Guess you've lost the security deposit." Lowri noted as they stepped out of the lift.

"Yeah, well, not much lost there." Tony replied.

Loki was stirring from his bed of broken tiles and all them moved so they stood above him. Clint even drew his last arrow and aimed it at him.

Loki woke, grimacing in pain as he shifted slightly. He looked up and saw them all staring at him and he looked sheepish, as the past few days had been nothing but a joke to him.

"If it's all the same to you, I'll have that drink now." Loki breathed out.

Lowri turned from Loki and pulled out her phone from one of the pockets close to her chest. She dialled up Nick and informed him that they had gotten Loki and the process of clean up could begin.

"It's done. It's all done on this end." Lowri said, she looked back at Loki, "And Loki won't be bothering anyone for a while, I think."

Loki was carted off in a quin jet, properly locked up while the clean-up process began. The National Guard moved in swiftly to properly evacuate the city while police and fire department worked hard to make the city safe.

Once Loki had been taken to the helicarrier, the group had left Tony's tower and they were in the shawarma restaurant Tony had wanted to go.

Lowri, feeling like her appetite had disappeared so she spent her time on the phone with Nick talking about their next step.

"What are we going to do with the bodies?" Lowri asked.

"I've dispatched three teams of agents to start loading the bodies up and to bring them back so we can dispose of them. I think the National Guard is gonna keep everyone out of the city and keep on top of clean up until tomorrow, but everything that's alien is coming with us."

"Good. Take them to the Fridge for examination and orbit, don't keep anything on the helicarrier for longer than 24 hours. I want them gone within the week from the Fridge." Lowri said, she turned back to the group and found only Steve's eyes on her. She quickly headed for the door and stood out in front of the window.

"That's the plan." Nick said.

"And take all of the weapons from WW2 and store them as well. I don't know what you were thinking, how can you not tell me something that's as big as Phase 2. Is there anything else I should know about?" Lowri asked.

"Not that I can think of now. But you know, it was for your own good. You're one-sided when it comes to threats we don't understand." Nick said.

"And my one-sided decisions usually end up being the right ones." Lowri replied quickly.

"Yeah, yeah, well we're not all wise old women, are we?" Nick asked, "When are you getting back?"

"They're eating shawarma now. And I'm pretty sure Thor wants to take Loki back to Asgard with him, along with the Tesseract so I think maybe tonight?" Lowri asked.

"You mean Thor's going back today?" Nick asked.

"Well, we don't want Loki breaking out again, do we?" Lowri asked. "If we can get Loki away before the World Security Council can get their beaks in, then that'll be fab."

"Alright, I'll pop him onto a jet when you give the say so." Nick said.

"I'll have a chat with Thor about it. And I'll see what he wants to do. It might happen in the morning, or it might happen now." Lowri said.

"Enjoy the shawarma." Nick said.

"It's disgusting." Lowri replied before they hung up. Lowri slid her phone away and stepped back into the restaurant. Nat and Clint looked up at her.

"What's our next orders, boss?" Nat asked.

"Not much." Lowri said, she took her seat beside Nat. "Nick's got the National Guard sorting out clean up, and there's three teams out taking in the bodies. They're keeping the evacuation notice up until tomorrow. And everything alien is going to the Fridge for testing and then orbit. Also, we need to make Loki disappear. When do you wanna take him away, Thor?" Lowri asked.

"As soon as I can." Thor replied.

"Well, we need to make that sooner than later, and the Tesseract needs to go too." Lowri said, "I don't want another maniac running around New York with that thing."

"Look at her, bossing around a God." Tony quipped.

"After Loki and the Tesseract has gone, I think Nick might actually give you the day off." Lowri said, looking back at Clint and Nat.

"And you don't get a day off?" Steve asked, looking at Lowri.

"I'm my own boss." Lowri replied.

"She made S. H. I. E. L. D." Clint said, "I don't think anyone is gonna tell her when to come in or not."

Lowri smiled. "They can try." She added.

After shawarma, everyone headed back up to the Stark Tower to rest and let the owners of the shawarma joint to clean up properly. Thor seemed content with staying on Earth for a little longer.

Lowri gave Nick another call, and requested for another jet to come pick them up. Dusk was long gone and it was night by the time Lowri, Nat, Clint, Thor and Steve got back on a jet and was taken back to the helicarrier.

Tony and Banner stayed in the Stark Tower, keeping hold of the Tesseract.

"I'd say the best time for you to leave is tomorrow morning at the earliest." Lowri said as the group made their way towards the bridge. "It'll be early and I can try and get some certain people off our backs. They're gonna wanna keep Loki here and question him and punish him, but I don't think we can hold him for long without that cell."

"Tomorrow morning it is, then." Thor said, "The Tesseract is coming with us also, it's a dangerous object."

"I'll be glad to see it gone." Lowri said.

"Certain people?" Steve asked.

"S. H. I. E. L. D. has another organisation above it called the World Security Council, they manage literally everything, including us. They would want to stop Loki from going. They would want him to pay for all the damage he has done, but I don't like them." Lowri explained.

"That's because they told you to retire like thirty times." Nat put in.

"They're jealous." Lowri replied quickly. They came to the now quiet bridge and Lowri turned back to them. "You should all get some rest. It's been a long day."

Most of them went, only Steve remained standing in front of her and Lowri sighed and then she smiled up at him.

"You should get some rest too, Steve." Lowri said.

"What about you? You took a really hard hit today. You probably shouldn't be standing." Steve replied.

"I heal fast. Besides, there's too much work to be done for me to rest. But you go, get some sleep. I'll see you tomorrow." Lowri said, gesturing him to go.

"Only if you promise to get some rest." Steve said, he refused to leave until she promised him that she would get some sleep in the next few hours.

Steve reluctantly left her and she went into the bridge alone. Nick was standing in his circle of monitors and he turned when Lowri approached.

"All the bodies have been moved into one of the upper levels here." Nick said.

"Good, I want them moved by tomorrow though." Lowri said, she stopped beside Nick and looked up at him. "Thor's leaving tomorrow morning with Loki and the Tesseract and by the time they're gone, I want all the weapons moved and the helicarrier grounded."

Nick nodded his head and tapped a few things into his circle of monitors. "The National Guard are aiming to let the civilians back into the city and we're gathering everything in that the Chitauri left behind." Nick said.

"Good. I can tell tonight is going to be a long one. Have we got a communication link set up with the National Guard and the city police force?" Lowri asked.

"Up and running. Adams over there is keeping the link active and updated." Nick answered.

"Good. Let's start this clean up malarkey, then." Lowri said. The looming task was impossible to dodge, and they all had to chip in.

Lowri had no sleep that night, like the many other agents and Nick dedicated to cleaning up the mess left in New York but as the sun rose and the news continued leaking out, the stories were being told but the city was clear of anything alien, weapons, armour and bodies.

Contractors were already out, rebuilding and civilians were allowed back in. But, the media showed both sides of the stories.

The Avengers, as they were now known, fought valiantly to save the lives of the citizens of New York, putting their lives out there.

But there were the bad stories too, how the Avengers never cared for civilian lives or the surrounding buildings because there was so much damage.

The civilians in New York gave interviews just after the battle and some were thankful, supportive and grateful to them for fighting the aliens but others were sceptical and wanted the Avengers gone.

The sun rose over the ocean and Lowri heard Thor's footsteps before she saw him.

"It's time." Thor said, Lowri turned to him. He was still dressed in his Asgardian clothing and he looked tired.

"I agree. Let's wake the others and I need to get changed." Lowri said, she turned with Thor, "Do you know where the others are? I think it'll be good for you to have plenty of people around just to see Loki go. If questions are asked, then you'll have loads of witnesses."

Thor nodded his head, "I know where the others are. Where will we meet?" Thor asked.

"On the flight deck. I'll have a jet waiting." Lowri said, she headed away from Thor and walked to her own room.

She rounded the final corner and she stopped short when she spied Steve leaning against the wall beside her door. Steve was dressed in his civilian clothing, the shirt clung to him quite nicely. He had his arms crossed over his chest and he had a playful smile on his face.

"I knocked a few times and when I thought you were in a deep sleep, I popped my head in. Your bed is still made. You didn't get any rest, did you?" Steve asked.

Lowri gave him a guilty look, "Time flies when you're having fun." She replied. She moved to him and stopped just in front of him.

"So, what have you been doing instead of resting?" Steve asked.

"Helping with the clean-up and managing the media… all sorts." Lowri answered, "Thor's leaving with Loki today. I'm just gonna get changed and get the jet ready."

"How tired are you?" Steve asked.

Lowri smiled, "I can manage on what little sleep I've had." Lowri replied.

"I'll meet you up on the flight deck then." Steve said with a warm smile. He stepped back and let her access her door and she stepped in.

Lowri quickly showered and changed into a pair of jeans, a loose top, ankle boots and a black leather jacket before she hid one of her guns at her hips and she left her room, her damp hair swinging in a loose plait.

She was the first to the flight deck and she quickly got one of the quin jets ready. Her phone rang and it turned out to be Nick.

"Loki's ready to go. Thor's gonna bring him up to you but you better get that bird into the air in the next five minutes. The council is calling." Nick said.

"Damn, they're behind on schedule but I was hoping for more time. That's fine, anyway, I've got the jet ready and waiting, just need the others to hurry their asses." Lowri said.

"What about our asses?" Nat asked as she strode up to the little doorway separating the cockpit to the rest of the jet.

"Nothing. Is everyone on board?" She asked.

"Yeah, we're all here. Now where are we going?" Clint asked, he stepped to the side as one of the other pilot agents slid into the co-pilot seat.

"Central Park. I want to do this in full view of the public." Lowri said, she radioed in to the control tower and got her permission. "Someone get hold of Banner and Stark and let them know our plan so they can meet us with the Tesseract."

"Alright, I'll do that." Nat said, she disappeared out to the back of the jet as Lowri got the jet into the air swiftly. "How about we meet them in the tower?" Nat asked, popping her head back through. "Stark says the top of the tower is big enough for the jet to be able to land on."

"Alright. We can all walk over together." Lowri said, they were in New York quickly and Lowri was lowering the jet onto the top of the tower. "You can fly the jet back to the helicarrier and inform Director Fury that the last order has been carried out." Her co-pilot nodded his head at her.

Instead of landing the jet, they hovered above and the rest climbed down. Lowri's co-pilot took control of the plane and flew off after everyone had disembarked.

Tony met them at the doorway and led them down further into the Tower, then they took the elevator down to the bottom level, where Bruce met them, holding a large silver brief case.

Then, the group made their way over to Central Park and choose a nice and public space where Thor could summon the way back to Asgard. He stood directly opposite Loki and both held one end of the container holding the Tesseract.

Thor turned the handle and clicked it into place and then a wonderful beam came down from the sky and took Thor and Loki away.

It was done in seconds and then Lowri breathed out thankfully. It's over, it's done. There was nothing keeping them in the city now.

Each went their own way, Clint and Nat went back to S. H. I. E. L. D. straight away, Tony and Bruce went back to the Tower to continue working together, leaving Lowri and Steve standing in Central Park in New York.

Lowri looked up at Steve carefully and he looked down at her, she knew that now was the time to sit down with him and talk things through properly.

Now, it was time for her to let Steve know exactly what had gone on during the time when Steve was in the ice.

* * *

 **And there we have it, the final chapter in this story!**

 **Keep your eyes peeled for the coming week!**

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